


Kamen Rider Vortex

by Canso99



Series: Kamen Rider Vortex [1]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, LEGO Dimensions
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:02:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 79
Words: 270,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23893513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canso99/pseuds/Canso99
Summary: Lord Vortech is smashing all of the universes into one! How will Megumi Hishikawa and her friends, the Feudal Nerd Society, Batman, Wyldstyle, Gandalf, and Kamen Rider Ichigō beat him? A retelling of Lego Dimensions.
Series: Kamen Rider Vortex [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722193
Kudos: 1
Collections: Kamen Rider Drabbles





	1. Chapter 1

+LOCATING HOST+

+SIBLING UNITS FOLLOWING+

+COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF IMAGINATION LOCATED IN DIMENSION 0-1-9-2-7+

+DIMENSION CONFIRMED AS A NULL DIMENSION+

+IMAGINATION LEVELS ARE HIGHER AS VIEW IS INCREASED+

+NEW HOST LOCATED+

+INITIATING DIMENSIONAL SHUNTING+

# royal protocols engaged #

# sibling units connected to this unit #

# brother unit 4479 is shunting to dimension 0-1-9-2-7 #

# dimension is considered a null dimension #

# brother unit has located host #

# hosts for all units located in same vicinity as host for brother unit #

# initiating dimensional shunting #

Another day, another gathering for the Feudal Nerds Society. All of the ladies and one man in our large, poofy dresses, the rest of the men in armor or fancy clothes. It was quite the large group and with all sorts of nationalities. We had Duke Emmanuel from France, our one man in the dress, Duke Lukas from Germany, Lord Michael from England, Lady Irina and her brother, Lord Mikhail of Russia, Lady Livia of Italy, Lady Tanisha of Africa, Lord Haitao of China, Lady Sheela of India, Lady Tonje of Norway, Lady Xiomara of Spain, Lord Joshua of Australia, my right-hand man, Sir Richard, and his sister, Dame Emily of the U.S. and my brother by adoption, Prince Hiroki of Japan. I am Princess Megumi, head of this little band. We had gathered around our table in the castle, an abandoned factory spruced up to look nice for the new occupants, and I had called for quiet. Hiroki and I sat at the head with him on my left. To my right sat Richard, Emily, Emmanuel, Lukas, Irina, Mikhail, and Sheela directly across from me. To Hiroki's left sat Haitao, Livia, Tanisha, Tonje, Joshua, Michael, and Xiomara directly across from him. "My assembled nerds," I began, "This has been a good year for the F.N.S. In fact, in the four years since we've started, we've been enjoying ourselves in our little quests to be champions of nerd-kind, such as LGBTQ protection," I pointed to Lukas, Tanisha, Tonje, and Emmanuel, "feminism," pointing to Sheela and Emily, "and broadening culture," pointing to Haitao, Hiroki, and Xiomara, "and succeeding in said quests. However, I must warn you, this is no time for complacency! For there are still toxic parts of nerd culture that are festering today! I, myself, have seen basement trolls attacking others online just to feel satisfied before I logged out of DeviantArt this evening!" Someone shouted "Shame!" at this. "Shame, indeed, Emmanuel," I continued. "Still, we must not be too despondent. For, if we had no cause, we'd be nothing more than a gaggle of people with our own petty squabbles getting in the way of true enjoyment! Thus, we flourish. With that, I say Happy Anniversary to our Feudal Nerds Society!"

"Happy Anniversary!" was the resounding reply. We then started eating our meals. It was Pizza Friday. As we ate and talked, Emmanuel pricked his ears up. Joshua noticed this.

"Something wrong, mate?" he asked.

"I thought I heard something," replied Emmanuel.

"A sort of tinkling noise from the ceiling?" asked Irina. Emmanuel blinked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

"I hear it too, tovarisch," (comrade) replied Irina. This time, everyone pricked their ears up. Sure enough, there was a tinkling noise.

"Maybe it's a rat," suggested Haitao. Hiroki tensed up.

"I hope not," gulped Tanisha. "We don't need one chewing on wires."

"Hey, enough!" yelped the musophobic (rat-fearing) Hiroki.

"Yeah," continued Richard. "If one rat gets through a live wire, we'll have the worst mess ever to clean up. On top of that, we'll have to relocate our castle if the place burns down, and I don't think we have the finances to move."

"You know," pondered Lukas aloud, "I heard somewhere that some rats can weigh four or five kilos."

"I said shut up about the rats!" insisted Hiroki.

"I don't think rat claws make a metallic tinkling, even on metal," mused Emmanuel.

"Weapons out," I ordered. We reached under the table and got our respective weapons. I had a rapier. Richard had a broad sword. Emily had a fencing foil. Josh's bolo, Tanisha's kaskara, and Hiroki's katana came out. Emmanuel took out a bow and arrow set. Lukas had a crossbow. Tonje had a battle ax, Mikhail had a shashka. Irina had a kinjal. Sheela slipped on her bagh naka. Xiomara drew her cutlass. Haitao gripped his liuyedao. Michael held his falchion and Livia pointed her cinquedea at the ceiling. In fact, we all pointed our respective blades at the ceiling. It was then that sixteen objects landed on the table as our backs were turned. After we all gave a yelp of surprise, we whirled to face the table and stared at the devices. They were rectangular and colored greyish black with a silver trim. They had some sort of blue circle in the center and a slot on top.

+CONNECTING WITH SIBLING UNITS+ announced the first device. Wires connected the devices to make a four by four square and the center circles started projecting something. It looked like a sea of gray against a cosmic background that seemed to be spitting out objects before they dissolved. It looked like London Bridge, a rocket, an atom, the Eiffel Tower, 42, and a race car were among them. Then part of the sea of gray floated to make a circle in the air. At that point, a blue, swirling vortex opened and a strange being came through. A caption beneath the being read "Lord Vortech". It looked like he was made of solid space with glowing eyes. He wore a mask that covered his face and mouth and a bronze helmet with curved horns. He had a tattered cape held by some sort of shoulder guards and some sort of ruined, brown pants with a belt holding it in place. The belt had a red circle above the buckle and he carried a staff with three circles held by rods at the top. The creature, I assume is what the caption called Lord Vortech, started walking forward while the vortex let the devices projecting these events pass through as well as a cubical robot with a telescopic, purple eye, an antenna on top, and claw like hands dangling off the bottom. The cube robot was identified as Senior Brother Unit and it sped off in search of something as it switched a red light on. As it moved, the light turned green.

"Hey, I found a thing!" it reported. Vortech turned to face it. "Er, I mean, anomaly located, Master." Vortech walked towards the robot and chuckled to himself in a raspy tone.

"Yes!" he called. "I found it!"

"Er, YOU found it?" asked the robot.

-This Unit Must Agree With Senior Brother Unit- supplied another device.

"After all these years of searching," continued Vortech, "it really exists! Foundation Prime!" Vortech waved aside some of the gray to reveal 10 images in a square pattern. He turned to the first device. "Call the Rogue Driver and his host!" The first device's circle blinked twice before another vortex let a man through. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! First off, let me explain some of my backstory, I was adopted after my father, Hiro, had killed my mother. I felt nothing but hatred in my heart for the three years I lived on the streets. I ran from the orphanage that housed me until I was nine, a hellhole if I ever saw one, and just wandered with no direction and no purpose. The streets were not kind. I almost became an animal. That's when she came. Her name was Haruna Hishikawa, a high society widow. I'm using European name order instead of traditional Japanese here. She took me in and gave me a home. Over the course of a year, she soon became Mom. She introduced me to my liking of Princess style dresses. Then, on my 14th birthday, he came back into my life, the man that had ruined my childhood. He tried to reclaim me, but the court had fixed him good. Last time I saw him, he was being led away to life imprisonment with no chance of parole. That trial was 10 years ago, before my family and I moved here to Virginia, and I had lived a life of bliss and friendship until I saw his face just now. He was wearing some sort of highwayman getup, complete with wide brimmed hat, and a black device was attached to his waist. Unlike the other devices, this one had a red circle and a gun on each hip. And, unlike the robotic tones the other devices spoke with, this one had a sarcastic, biting tone. This was identified as the Rogue Driver

"Well, well, well!" it chuckled. "It looks like Mister Cube found something!"

"So, this is Foundation Prime?" asked Hiro.

"The proof is right there!" explained Vortech as he pointed to the images. "This depicts the Foundation Elements; artifacts from the start of time! Scattered across the dimensions, and only I can gather them in one place!"

"And such elements will allow us this power of creation you've promised?" asked Hiro.

"Indeed, they shall, my dear Hiro," confirmed Vortech.

"Just so you know," gulped the cube robot, "the Foundation Elements are the cornerstones of Time and Space, so they're…kind of important to the…entire multiverse!" The robot briefly chuckled.

"Your services are no longer required," replied Vortech. He used his staff to open a portal behind the robot.

"But the elements can't be safely harnessed!" yelled the robot as it was sucked into the portal, piece by piece. "It's too dangerous! AND WHAT ABOUT THE PAY RAISE YOU PROMISED MEEEEEEEE!" The instant the last component of the robot was sucked in, the portal closed. Lord Vortech then started laughing.

"I will have them all!" he giggled. "I will control their power! I will make UNIVERSES collide!" As he started laughing again, Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Lunatics, am I right?" muttered the Rogue Driver. Then Vortech started shaking violently and then started shifting in size at random intervals. Hiro backed off.

"NO!" shouted Vortech. "I will not be...denied perfection!" He shrunk back down.

"What was that?!" demanded Hiro.

"That, my friend," explained the Rogue Driver, "is what happens when you stay in the dimensional vortex for too long. Your body can't keep its stability for much longer."

"My dedication to this work…has…taken its toll!" elaborated Vortech. "Not…for much longer can I freely pass between dimensions!"

"What?!" snarled Hiro. "If this whole thing turns out to be a bust, we're stuck here!"

"Maybe Lord Vortech can't pass between dimensions…" mused his belt.

"But there is another way," supplied Vortech. He then started using his thoughts to raise a citadel with the images of the Foundation Elements in the center. As this was going on, Vortech started laughing.

+EMERGENCY DIMENSIONAL SHIFT+ announced the first device. All of the devices started going into a portal with Hiro screaming after them. The video ended. We blinked.

"And…you guys are?" I asked the devices.

+WE ARE DRIVERS LIKE THE ROGUE UNIT+ explained the first device. That's when all the drivers attached to our waists. They each spat out a small, light blue disk from the slot on top.

"What the heck are these things?" asked Hiroki.

+EXPLANATIONS WILL COME LATER+ announced my belt. +FOR NOW, RESCUE MUST COME FIRST+

"Of the cube robot?" asked Richard.

+NEGATIVE+ replied my belt. +RESCUE OF ALL HOSTS' PARENTS+

"Beg pardon?" quizzed Michael.

+ROGUE DRIVER HOST HAS TAKEN YOUR PARENTS HOSTAGE+ explained Tanisha's belt. That raised a major red flag and so we all whipped out our phones and called our parents. All we got was their respective voice mail greetings. As the reality of the situation sunk in, rage filled my heart.

"Hiro wa, anata wa amarini mo tōku ittekimashita!" (Hiro, you've gone too far!) I hissed in my native Japanese.

"I hate to sound like the, er, 'downer', of the group," replied Lukas, "but if we are to fight Vortech and Hiro to save our parents, how will we get there?"

+SUMMONING STEEDS+ announced my belt. That's when the vortex opened to release a horse for each of us. These horses were metal and had wheels hidden in their bellies.

"I'm guessing that these horses turn into motorcycles?" asked Xiomara.

+CONFIRMED+ replied my belt.

"Then I guess it's time to put our horseback riding and motorbike training to good use!" I declared as I mounted my steed. The others mounted theirs as well. We trotted toward the table to grab a last slice of pizza for the road. Once we had gotten our slices, we charged towards the portal, on our way to save our parents.


	2. Chapter 2

As we were pounding through the vortex, an old man sat on a bench in Arakawa Nature park, over in Tokyo. The man was a little battle weary, with wavy hair, a well-defined muscle structure, and wore motorcycle gear. He looked at the young'uns playing and gave a small, sad smile. "The days of youth," said a voice. The man turned to see another man about his age. He had lost his hair and wore similar gear to the man on the bench. A warm smile spread across his face.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Ichimonji," he mused.

"Like you, I've been busy fighting Shocker around the world," explained Ichimonji. "I just came back for the nostalgia, much like you, I'm guessing. How are you doing, Hongo?"

"I've been well," replied Hongo. "About a year ago, Shocker was in a civil war with a branch called Shocker Nova. Unlike the one we're familiar with, these people wanted to take control of the economies of the planet. Much more sinister than simply subjugating the people."

"And you fought them off by yourself?" asked Ichimonji.

"No, I met with the new Rider at the time," explained Hongo. "This one was interesting. He had died when he wasn't supposed to, so he set out on a quest to find these things called Eyecons, which hold the spirits of famous people, like Musashi, Robin Hood, and Edison. He had to collect all 15 within 99 days or he would cease to exist. From what I heard, he succeeded."

"A ghost as a Rider?" quizzed Ichimonji. "That's a new one."

"Well, the Heisei generation can be a little strange," mused Hongo.

"Still, it's nice to see the fight against evil goes on," replied Ichimonji.

"Yes, the planet is in good…" it was then that Hongo saw the portal. "What in the…? Ichimonji, look out!" said Hongo as he tackled Ichimonji to the ground. That was when we flew out of the portal, over the bench, and landed right in front of the two men.

"That was a rush!" announced Emily.

"Everybody okay?" I asked. They all confirmed their status as we dismounted. "Good. Now then, where are we?"

"You're in Arakawa Nature Park," explained Hongo as we turned to the speaker. The instant he clapped eyes on the two men, a look of pleasant surprise and fanboying popped onto Hiroki's face.

"They're real!" he muttered. "I don't believe it! They're real!"

"Who are they?" asked Sheela.

"THE FIRST KAMEN RIDERS!" shouted Hiroki happily.

"What now?" quizzed Richard.

" _Kamen Rider_ is an iconic franchise alongside _Godzilla_ and _Ultraman_ ," explained Hiroki. "The whole thing is based around a masked motorcycle rider fighting evil organizations."

"After the earthquake in 2011, the statue of the very first Kamen Rider was discovered still standing, giving courage and hope to the victims." I supplied. "Even one who has basic knowledge, like me, can't deny the impact _Kamen Rider_ has left us."

"And Ichimonji's coming with me," called a voice. That's when an electrical bolt shot Ichimonji and made him freeze up. We looked in shock to see Hiro with a smoking pistol in his right hand. My lips curled into a snarl and Hongo noticed this.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"That man had abandoned me and tried to reclaim me when I was adopted by a more loving mother," I explained. "This was after he murdered his wife, my birth mother!" Hongo gave a dirty look at Hiro.

"I'm guessing, because of that, you no longer acknowledge him as your father," guessed Hongo.

"That's right!" I snarled.

"How dare you, sir!" hissed Hongo to Hiro. "She was a gift to make your life joyful and you ruined her life! I shall not forgive those as evil as you!"

"Evil?!" snapped Hiro. "No! I don't accept that! I needed a super soldier! One who could communicate with their bestial side! It was for the good of Japan!"

"The good of Japan?!" roared Hiroki as Hiro rambled. "You animal! You almost got her killed! It was lucky that my mother adopted her when she did! You're an evil man that has descended into nothing more than an animal and shall be put down as such!"

"You are welcome to try!" boasted Hiro as he loaded a red semi-circle into both guns.

"Oh, this is gonna be good!" giggled the Rogue driver as both semi-circles joined together inside the red circle, with the split going from top to bottom. Hiro then pointed his guns at us. "Reach for the skies!" said the driver.

"Henshin!" announced Hiro as he pulled the triggers. A red circle appeared in front of us with an image of armor going sideways. Hiro ran towards it and jumped into it, twisting sideways, and landed on both feet in the armor. It looked like a black, full bodysuit with blackish gray armor on the arms, chest, and legs, and a black trench coat. His helmet had red compound eyes, a pair of short antennae, and a black, wide brimmed hat. The eyes had a pupil and the lights making it glow altered to show the emotion he had underneath.

"Meg," gulped Xiomara, "your birth father, did he just…?"

"He did," I said, "Hiroki, is that…?"

"It is!" confirmed Hiroki.

"I am Kamen Rider Rogue," announced Hiro. "Stand and deliver!"

"You disgrace the name of Kamen Riders everywhere!" hissed Hongo. "I shall teach you what a Rider truly is." He pulled his jacket back to reveal a belt with a white strap and a silvery metal shield covering something around the buckle area. The shield had a symbol on it with the front of a motorcycle, almost insect like, over a red R. After he revealed the belt, He put his left fist to his hip and thrust his right hand across his front in a diagonal fashion and slowly rotated it to his right side. As he was doing this, the shield split to reveal a red fan that turned with the wind. "Rider…HENSHIN!" He then pulled his right hand into a fist and put it to his hip and thrust his left arm across his front. He then leapt into the air at an impressive height for anyone, even men his age! As he landed, the wind had kicked up so much debris that I couldn't see his suit form. When it cleared, there he stood. He wore a green mask with red compound eyes, a pair of antennae, a lighter green face shield that looked a lot like an insect's mandibles, armor all over him with the chest, gloves, and boots being colored in green. He also wore a red scarf with both ends on the left side. My brother was about to squee.

"I thought his outfit was slimmer than that," I pondered aloud.

"There was a movie with him and Kamen Rider Ghost," explained Hiroki with a big fat grin. "He had upgrades done before the events of that movie!"

"Okay, that makes sense," I muttered. A thought then entered my head. "Er, driver…"

+WHAT IS YOUR QUERY?+ quizzed my belt.

"Do you have similar transformation functions?" I asked.

+ALL VORTEX DRIVERS ARE BUILT WITH TRANSFORMATION IN MIND+ replied my belt. "SIMPLY INSERT THE IDENTIFICATION TAG INTO THE SLOT ON TOP+ +ENCOUNTERING MORE PEOPLE WILL ALLOW YOU TO GAIN THEIR IDENTIFICATION TAGS AND ABILITIES+ +SIMPLY PRESS THE RED BUTTON ON YOUR RIGHT TO SWAP OUT YOUR IDENTIFICATION TAG AND INSERT A NEW ONE TO GAIN ARMOR BASED ON THEIR IMAGE+

"So, you're saying we all have a Henshin sequence like Hiro?" I asked.

+CORRECT+ confirmed my belt. I grinned.

"Hongo-san," I pleaded, "please, let me fight with you. Kamen Rider Rogue is my enemy too."

"As you wish," replied Kamen Rider Ichigō. (The first)

"Thank you," I thanked. I then took out the blue disk I got when this adventure started and held it in my right fist. My left fist went to my waist and my right fist came across my front to my left shoulder.

"Meg!" called Richard. "What are you doing?!"

"Not without us!" declared Hiroki.

"I was wondering when you guys would speak up," I mused. "Form up and strike a pose, lords and ladies."

"Oh, for the love of…I don't have time for this!" snarled Rogue as he charged towards Ichimonji. Ichigō then threw a punch and started pushing him back.

"You kids get into your suits!" he called. "I'll hold him off for as long as I can!"

"Thank you, Hongo-san!" thanked Hiroki. The line soon went from Joshua with his right fist holding his i.d tag above his head and his left hand splayed in front of his belt, Sheela with both hands in the air over her right shoulder with the i.d tag in between her right ring finger and pinky, Tonje with her right fist holding the i.d tag on her forehead and her left fist at her belt buckle, Tanisha with her right pointer finger and thumb holding the i.d tag and her left hand behind it, Livia with her right hand holding the i.d tag on her left shoulder and her left hand holding the other shoulder, Irina crossing her arms in front of her with the i.d tag in, you guessed, her right fist, Mikhail simply putting his left arm under his right arm, Hiroki holding an invisible katana, myself keeping the same pose before Rogue tried to interfere, Richard holding his right arm like a sword, Emily in a fencing ready position with an invisible foil, Haitao putting his right hand into his left palm, Emmanuel throwing his left arm out in front while his right hand with the i.d tag went into the air as he turned to face his right, Lukas throwing his right fist in front while his left hand held the elbow, Xiomara with her left hand holding part of her dress and her right arm straight across her belly, and Michael holding his right arm straight from the side and his left hand about to draw an imaginary sword.

"Henshin on three," I declared. "Ichi! Ni! SAN!"

"HENSHIN!" we all shouted as we slid our i.d tags into the slots on top of the belts. Rogue stopped fighting Ichigō to look at us. Ichigō stopped as well to get a look. A blue circle appeared in front of each of us with silhouettes of armor for us. Us dress wearers had to hitch up our skirts as we all ran towards the circles and jumped through. When we came out, we were in armor with a black undersuit and light blue plating. Joshua's motif made him look like a hunter. Sheela looked like an Indian soldier in old armor. Tonje had the Viking thing going, without the horns on her helmet. Tanisha had a pre-colonial look to her armor. Livia's armor was styled around Gothic Plate armor. Irina's armor covered every square inch of body that showed the black undersuit. Mikhail looked like one of the Cossacks. Hiroki was styled after a samurai. I was in armor that had a crown affixed to my helmet and a purple cape. Richard took the classic medieval armor look, complete with feather on top. Emily was in metal fencing gear. Haitao took the look of an old Chinese soldier. Emmanuel looked like a French archer. Lukas looked like an old German knight. Xiomara looked like a conquistador. Michael looked like a medieval English soldier. Our weapons looked more futuristic. Our compound eyes were blue and, like Hiro, had pupils and could show our emotions. We all approved.

"Everyone," I ordered, "introduce yourselves! Make sure you have a good name and catchphrase!" I've seen enough Kamen Rider to know how it's supposed to go.

"Kamen Rider Outback!" began Joshua. "Better watch your back, mate!"

"Kamen Rider Claw," announced Sheela as she closed her fists to extend her new Bagh Naka. "My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!"

"Kamen Rider Swing!" declared Tonje. "I'll be taking your legs!"

"Kamen Rider Hunt!" called Tanisha. "I shall always get my prey!"

"Kamen Rider Clash!" announced Livia. "A duel with me shall end in your defeat!"

"Kamen Rider Climb!" called Irina. "Mountains are a warrior's best friend!"

"Kamen Rider Gallop!" declared Mikhail. "My riding skills are unmatched!"

"Kamen Rider Sengoku!" called Hiroki. "You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!"

"Kamen Rider Royal!" I declared. "Evil will ultimately bow to me!"

"Kamen Rider Guard!" announced Richard. "None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!"

"Kamen Rider Touché!" declared Emily. "En Garde, thing of evil!"

"Kamen Rider Zhànshì," called Haitao. "Try and stop my quest!"

"Kamen Rider Arch!" declared Emmanuel. "My skills outdo Robin Hood!" Michael looked towards Emmanuel at that.

"Kamen Rider Kämpfer!" announced Lukas. "Your defeat will be certain at my hands!"

"Kamen Rider Seeker!" called Xiomara. "It's not gold I seek, but your end!"

"Kamen Rider Battle!" announced Michael after he shook off Emmanuel's comment. "For friends and family, I shall be victorious!"

"You face 17 people, Hiro!" I called. "Give up now, and this goes no further!" Rogue looked all around, then bent down slightly. Given the tremble in his body, I thought he was crying. I was wrong. He then bent over backwards giving an insanely loud laugh.

"You morons!" he laughed. "What was your objective?!" I was puzzled by the question.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Our objective is to beat you."

"Really?" he countered. "Nothing to do with Kamen Rider Nigō?" (The Second)

"Well," said Hiroki as he turned around, "given that…er…where's Ichimonji?!"

"What?!" I quizzed. All riders aside from Rogue started looking for Ichimonji.

"The instant you lot started doing your roll call," explained Rogue, "a portal opened up and sucked up the paralyzed Ichimonji! No doubt he's on Foundation Prime!" Another portal opened behind him. "And there's my ride!"

"You're not going anywhere!" I shouted as I charged him. My futuristic rapier slashed across his back. He turned around and delivered a punch which I blocked. I threw a punch which he blocked. And so, the process continued, blow after blow blocked until he pulled one of his guns on me and fired. I staggered backwards as he leapt into the air.

"Rider Rogue Kick," he said as he flew down with his left foot outstretched and a nasty red aura surrounding him I tried to get out of the way but stumbled over my cape. That's when Ichigō threw himself between us and took the hit. It canceled his transformation as Rogue landed and disappeared into the portal. Hongo boarded his bike that was nearby and sped into the portal after Hiro.

"Hongo-san, WAIT!" called Hiroki. Our transformations cancelled as our horses trotted towards us to let us on. We entered the portal ourselves to get Hongo to see sense.


	3. Chapter 3

The vortex had dumped us in a dark city. Hongo stopped his bike to look around while I decided now would be a good time to berate his recklessness. "What were you thinking?!" I berated. "For all you know, you could have ended up in a hellhole!"

"Anything to save my friend!" he argued back.

"And if you died the instant you stepped into that hellhole?!" I countered. I'll spare you the argument as Xiomara did the smart thing and asked a passerby where we are. She squeed at the answer.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" she shouted in joy, interrupting my argument with Hongo. "We get to see Wayne Manor, Wayne Tower, The GPD Station, we might even see him riding the streets with his son/sidekick!"

"See who?" quizzed Richard. "Where are we?"

"We're in Gotham!" replied Xiomara.

"Gotham?!" gulped Emmanuel. "I have no desire to be jumped by a clown, given a lose-lose choice by Two-Face…" Someone zoomed by us. "…Or end up on Bane's fists," continued Emmanuel as he saw the figure.

"That was Bane?" I gulped, a little terrified.

"What were those green crystals?" asked Hongo.

"Green crystals?" mused Xiomara. "It couldn't be…I mean, what reason would he…?" Her thoughts were interrupted when a red motorcycle zoomed by followed by a black, tank-like vehicle. This vehicle had a bat-like motif. Three guesses what the vehicle is.

"After them!" I called. "We can get answers from Batman!"

"Bat-Man?! Shocker's here?! He's mine!" declared Hongo. He boarded his bike and sped off.

"Oh no, this is bad!" gulped Hiroki. "Shocker had a monster called Kōmori Otoko!"

"Bat-Man!" I translated. "Hongo has the wrong idea! After him!" We mounted our horses and took off. Ahead of us, Bane had dropped several green crystals. One of them bounced into the red motorcycle rider's hands.

"HEY!" shouted the rider, Robin. "NO LITTERING!" He examined the crystal as the Batmobile drove up alongside him. "What does Bane want with all this kryptonite, Batman?" he asked.

"What everyone wants with kryptonite," replied Batman, "to take down Superman. But not today! Cut him off at the bridge, we'll have him cornered!"

"Okay, Batman!" confirmed Robin.

"Get away from him!" called Hongo as he drew up alongside Robin. "A young boy like you shouldn't be near a Shocker monster!"

"You should get out of here!" argued Batman. "We're chasing a dangerous man!"

"The only danger here is a monster like you, Bat-Man!" shouted Hongo. "What's Shocker planning?!"

"Hongo-san, stop!" called Hiroki as we drew alongside. "That's not a Shocker monster! He's a superhero!"

"Whoa!" yelped Robin as his bike started floating in the air. Batman sped ahead, not knowing what's going on with Robin. He stopped at the bridge when Robin failed to show up.

"Aw," fake-whined Bane, "and we were having such a nice chase!"

"Robin?" he asked over the radio. That's when a portal opened in a wall and sucked Robin in along with the kryptonite in his hands! Batman saw this and turned the Batmobile into the portal. Hongo, who didn't listen to us when we said Batman wasn't a Shocker monster, sped off after him. I rolled my eyes.

"After them!" I called. We got our horses to go to the portal after Hongo and pounded through the vortex.

* * *

In another universe, a wizard dressed in gray got the rest of his nine-member party to get to the other side of a stone bridge over a chasm. His party consisted of four men about half a man's height, a small bearded man about a few inches taller than the other four small ones, a man with long, blonde hair and pointy ears, and two other men with goatees. All of them were in some sort of medieval gear. They were running from some sort of giant, demon-like creature wreathed in flames and shadows. The wizard stopped in the middle of the bridge. One of the smaller people turned to see this. "You cannot pass!" defied the wizard.

"Gandalf!" called the small person, Frodo Baggins. The flames of the creature, the Balrog of Morgoth, intensified, hoping to scare Gandalf.

"I am a servant of the secret fire, wielder of the flame of Anor!" announced Gandalf, undaunted. He lit up a crystal at the top of his staff as the Balrog summoned a sword of flames. "The Dark Fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn!" The Balrog swung its sword at the wizard only for it to shatter upon impact with Gandalf's magic shield. The Balrog roared in frustration at this as the rest of the Fellowship looked on. "Go back to the shadow!" snarled Gandalf. The Balrog put a foot on the bridge, summoned a whip of fire, and cracked it to the side. "YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!" roared Gandalf as he raised his sword and staff over his head. He then brought them down onto the bridge, enchanting it. The Balrog snorted, charged forward with the whip above its head, but the weight of the creature made its part of the bridge collapse. Durin's Bane roared in anger as it tumbled into the chasm of what once was Khazad-dûm, now the Mines of Moria. As his foe tumbled, Gandalf turned and walked. That was when the Balrog, not about to be cheated of a victim, cracked its whip around Gandalf's ankle and pulled him down. Gandalf dropped his sword, Glamdring, the Foe-Hammer, and his staff as he grabbed the bridge. Frodo rushed forward to save him but was held back by Boromir.

"GANDALF!" shouted Frodo. Gandalf struggled to pull himself up but couldn't do so. He locked eyes with Frodo. They stared for a while in horror.

"Fly, you fools!" called Gandalf to the Fellowship. Then he did something that made their hearts shatter, he let go and tumbled after the Balrog. Frodo shouted no at the top of his lungs. As he fell, Gandalf caught up with Glamdring and caught it, diving after the beast. He swung the sword many times into the Balrog as, unbeknownst to him, you guessed it, our party of now eighteen came in through the portal. The Batmobile hit the sides of the chasm before the driver hit the seat eject button. As Batman landed on the Balrog, Hongo activated his belt, the wind pressure spinning the fan fast enough to form his suit. Our horses turned into flying machines as I dismounted mine. I grabbed my i.d tag, ready to activate my belt.

"HENSHIN!" I announced as I fell. As I flew through the blue circle I caught up with Ichigō who was about to strike Batman.

"Where's Robin?!" Batman asked Gandalf.

"What?" replied Gandalf. He then saw the Balrog's hand move towards Batman. "Behind you!"

"I said," shouted Batman, while in the Balrog's hand, "where's Robin?!"

"My dear fellow," replied Gandalf as he struck the Balrog to get it to let go of Batman, "I have no idea what you are talking about! Have you tried looking in a tree?!"

"Not a robin, Robin!" elaborated Batman as he got out of the Balrog's grip. "He got sucked into a weird hole in Gotham, after the lunatics falling with us tried to stop our chase with an enemy of ours. I jumped in and it led me to you." He was snatched by the Balrog again.

"And you are?" asked Gandalf. There was a brief silence.

"I'm Batman!" he replied. The Dark Knight pushed the fingers aside and threw a batarang at the Balrog's eye. He grabbed Hongo and Gandalf, fired his grappling gun up the side of the chasm and they all zoomed upwards to the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring. I disembarked from the Balrog and hopped on my Rider Machine and the Feudal Nerd Society flew upwards to meet Hongo talking to Batman and Frodo hugging Gandalf in relief. Hongo had heard Batman's backstory and Xiomara confirmed it.

"Oh dear," he gulped. "Batman, I deeply apologize. I thought you were a monster servant of the organization that altered me into what I am now."

"What are you anyway?" asked Batman. With Hiroki's help, Hongo explained what a Kamen Rider is to Batman. Meanwhile, I fiddled with a blue button on my belt and summoned Hongo's motorcycle, the Cyclone, the Batmobile, and Gandalf's horse, Shadowfax. Gandalf broke off from his hug with Frodo to shake Batman's hand.

"My thanks," he said as he dusted his hat that Sam Gamgee handed him. "But, who are you, my young royals?" he asked us.

"I am Princess Megumi of the Feudal Nerd Society," I introduced as I curtsied. I proceeded to introduce everyone else and explained about what's going on. I was about to mention Vortech when we heard Frodo shout Gandalf's name. We all turned to see Frodo getting sucked up by the portal!

"Frodo!" called Gandalf! "He has the One Ring! It cannot fall into the enemy's hands!" He mounted Shadowfax and got him to run towards the portal. "Quickly, fly!"

"I'm not an actual bat, Gandalf!" countered Batman as he entered the Batmobile. Hongo got on the Cyclone and we, the F.N.S, mounted our steeds. We all entered the vortex and left the Fellowship of the Ring. Sam blinked.

"I s'pose we'll just wait for them, then," he mused.

* * *

I'm…not sure how to describe that specific part of the dimension we were about to arrive in. It seemed to be built on clouds, had a sort of Candy-Land feel to it, neon lights flashing everywhere, and a stage where a woman in a black hoodie with purple and blue graffiti style print on the front, black sweatpants, and black hair with a streak of purple and blue going across her right bangs and her left bangs held in a sideways ponytail on the left was in a dance-off with a pink, humanoid cat with yellow hooves for feet, blue furry hands, a human-like face, a cotton candy pink skirt, a pink shirt with puffy sleeves, a blue and white tail, and a blue horn in the middle of her forehead. They were being judged by a pirate that had a giant robot body with a shark on his right arm and cannons replacing his left hand, and his head being the only organic component with a metal beard like device holding it. Oddly enough, this guy was called MetalBeard. "Arr!" announced MetalBeard. "It be Wyldstyle who jigged the best!" He handed the woman a gold trophy. Wyldstyle held it up, her smiled framed by her freckles.

"THIS! DANCE-OFF! WAS! FIXED!" snarled the cat creature, Princess Unikitty, as her colors went from pink and white to orange and red briefly. She then calmed down. "I mean, well done, Wyldstyle!"

"Yes!" cheered Wyldstyle. "I mean, you know, whatever." Then, MetalBeard, his treasure chest, and the trophy were under a portal in the sky and it started sucking them up. "Hey, wait!" said Wyldstyle as she grabbed the trophy. "That's mine!"

"Arr!" called MetalBeard as he was sucked in with the treasure chest. "It be a Kraken, I know it!" The portal closed as it took MetalBeard.

"What the?!" cried a construction worker, who's nametag read "Emmett". "Where'd MetalBeard go?!" That was when we all came in. The landing was bumpy as we all landed on top of each other and another Batman. We picked ourselves up and dusted each other off.

"Batman?" yelped Wyldstyle as she pointed to our Batman. "Gandalf?!" She pointed to Gandalf. "Batman?" she pointed to the other Batman. Other Batman turned to Hongo.

"OW!" he snapped. "You landed on my back, man!"

"I'm Batman." replied our Batman. Other Batman turned to our Batman.

"No," he hissed, "I didn't say…HEY! I'm Batman!"

"I'm Batman!"

"I'm Batman!"

"I'M BATMAN!"

"I'M BATMAN!" At that point, both Batmans were nose to nose, then proceeded to engage in a slap-fight.

"Oh, twins!" called Gandalf. "I wonder if one of them is evil?"

"Could be," mused Hiroki. "There's a monster version of him that Hongo fought."

"Where did you come from?" asked Unikitty. "And why are there two Bat…mans? Bat…men? Batmens?" She faltered on the plural of Batman.

"There aren't" replied our Batman as he tossed a batarang. "There's only one Batman. I don't know who the stiff is." He caught the batarang as Other Batman tripped over his own cape.

"Hey!" he rasped.

"I think it's backstory time again," muttered Sheela. We all explained our situation and names. Unikitty jumped when she heard I was a princess that had a ruling style similar to hers.

"What sort of fun do you guys have?" she asked.

"We sort of let the wind take us wherever it wants us," I explained. "It's more fun that way."

"Well," cheered Gandalf, "this is all wonderful! Er, but I don't suppose you saw a young Hobbit pass this way?"

"What's a Hobbit?" asked Emmett.

"The only thing we saw was our friend, MetalBeard, getting dragged into a strange vortex," Wyldstyle told us.

"From what the F.N.S. told us," mused our Batman, "I think it was some kind of dimensional rift. Where is it?"

"It disappeared after it took him," reported Emmet.

"What's Hiro planning with hostages?" I mused to myself.

"So, you guys didn't cause all of that?" asked Wyldstyle.

"Not possible," replied Lukas. "We don't have the technology."

"Might I suggest we all set out on a quest to find this, er, 'rift', you say?" suggested Gandalf.

"A quest?!" asked Unikitty. "Let me go pack some rainbow builder's bricks!" She skipped away.

"And I'll get my wrench," replied Emmet as he followed Unikitty. Wyldstyle lifted a panel to reveal some Lego bricks, built a vehicle, and the vehicle turned into a metal version of the thing.

"Whoa!" I called. "Master Builders at work!"

"We're making a Master Builder Academy right now," replied Wyldstyle. "So, quest time?"

"We shall be the Fellowship of the…" Gandalf didn't get very far as a portal opened beneath all 20 of us as we fell through, screaming. After it closed, the Batman of that dimension got up.

"Fellowship of the Aaargh?" he asked. "That's a terrible name!" That's when Emmet and Unikitty came in with a chest of rainbow Lego bricks and a wrench.

"Aw!" cried Emmet. "They left without the whole gang?"

"Gang, shmang!" snarled Unikitty as she got mad. "They left without me!" She roared as her colors changed again.

"That guy wasn't anything special," remarked Other Batman. He tried doing some stunts but knocked himself out in the process.


	4. Chapter 4

"We are at this strange beast's mercy," called Gandalf as we tumbled through the vortex, "and I do not trust where it is leading us! We must get out!"

"Agreed," confirmed Batman.

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Hiroki.

"Driver," Xiomara asked my belt, "can't you lead us out of here?"

+NEGATIVE+ replied my belt. +VORTEX IS NOT OF DRIVER ORIGIN+

"I have an idea!" called Lukas. "Fräulein Wyldstyle, Batman and I need your scanner!"

"We do?" asked the Dark Knight. He then got the idea and took out a micro-toolkit from his utility belt. Lukas had a habit of carrying various bits of tech with him. Wires, circuit boards, antennae, lights, it always went with him. Wyldstyle tossed Batman the scanner as he explained what he realized Lukas was saying. "If Lukas and I can locate whatever's generating this rift, then we can disrupt it!" They set to work as they fixed an antenna on the back of the scanner. The light on top started glowing yellow as it made noises.

"Does that mean it worked?" asked Gandalf. The vortex then took us down a sharp curve.

"I think we're about to find out!" replied Irina.

* * *

The dimension we hurtled towards seemed to be a piece of architecture floating in space. It was colored gray with blue, pulsating lines and circles peppering the place. It was very dark at that place. Inside the place, there was a square platform with a blue, metal circle with eight spokes not touching each other in the center. The circle had five, purple, shield-like objects on the upper parts. The entire thing was sitting on a screen with a folding panel on each side. It had various blue lines on the platform proper and had two L shapes facing each other and a circle in the center. A small box was standing on its end with an antenna and a couple of pincer arms rested on either side of the giant blue circle. First, the right L shape glowed purple, then the left L shape glowed white, finally the circle glowed blue. The vortex opened inside the circle as we were thrown out of the vortex. Wyldstyle landed on Hongo, Irina and Sheela, Hiroki, Lukas, and Emmanuel landed on me, Batman was under Mikhail, Haitao, Tanisha, and Xiomara, and Emily, Tonje, Livia and Gandalf were on top of Joshua. We all picked ourselves up, well, the rest of us, I sat down to smooth my dress. That's when something pinged somewhere in my body. "Line up!" I called. Everyone lined up and I started counting noses. I counted myself as one and went from right to left. After I finished, I recounted because I was short one. Something didn't click in my brain and it was frustrating me. "Richard, can you help me out here?" I asked. There was no reply. "Richard, I asked you a…a…er…Dame Emily, where's your brother?!" I realized why my count came up short, Richard was missing. As we called his name, I felt myself rise from the floor. A thought went into my head. "My friends," I requested, "I want you to look at the bottom of my dress and tell me if you see anything sticking out. I hope I'm wrong, but I think I'm sitting on Richard."

"Meg, I think I see Richard's hand!" called Tanisha. I slightly snarled as I hate being called "Meg". I looked down to see a hand trying to get away from the underside of my dress. I got up to release Richard. He was gasping for air as the floor's imprints were on his face.

"I couldn't breathe under there!" he gasped. As he caught his breath, he looked at the machine. "Er, Lukas, you're our tech wiz. Are machines supposed to shake like that?" Lukas turned to see what he was talking about.

"Only when they're about to explode!" he yelped.

"HIT THE DECK!" I shouted as I wrapped my arms around Richard and fell backwards. Everyone else dove for the floor and made themselves as flat as possible. The machine did as Lukas predicted, burying the shrapnel in the walls. The explosion opened a portal and sucked the shields into it. The pull dragged us towards the portal, but it closed before we could go in.

"Well," called Wyldstyle to Batman and Lukas, "I don't quite know what you two did, but we're still alive."

"Are you sure?" groaned Gandalf.

"This technology looks advanced," mused Lukas. "My guess? That gateway created the rift that brought us here."

"Erm, which gateway?" asked Gandalf.

"The one that exploded!" snapped Batman.

"Hm, then perhaps…" said Hongo.

"We should rebuild it!" finished Wyldstyle. Everyone picked themselves up again, well, mostly everyone. I was keeping Richard lying on top of me. He tried to get up, but I didn't let him.

"Meg, if it's about that dress thing," he said, "let me remind you that those events were beyond our control."

"Nevertheless," I replied in a teasing tone, "you were under a lady's dress. I'm not letting you go until you've made an apology to me."

"What?!" protested Richard. "That's absurd! Let me up!"

"You will not?" I replied in the same teasing tone. I then took a pretentious British accent. "Then thy sentence shall be to remain in this maiden's embrace until the end of time!"

"All right!" he snapped. "My fair princess, this humble and wretched knight doth plead mercy for the despicable act he was party to!"

"Apology accepted," I giggled as I released Richard. He got up and helped me up. "In all seriousness," I said as I smoothed my dress again, "we need to fix that machine. If the upgrades to Wyldstyle's scanner were made properly, that thing was the only thing keeping the vortex stable and is our only way out of this mess."

"The shrapnel is embedded in pretty high places," responded Irina. "How are we all going to get it down?"

"My magic can help," announced Gandalf.

"I'm pretty athletic," supplied Wyldstyle.

"My batarangs should get it down," mused Batman.

"My kicks should be able to loosen the shrapnel," said Hongo.

"What about us?" asked Richard. "I don't wanna stand here and look pretty and I know you don't either, my lady."

+SOLUTION IS EASY+ replied my belt. +MEGUMI MUST PLACE HER HAND ON SOMEONE LIKE UNIT HONGO, UNIT GANDALF, UNIT BATMAN, OR UNIT WYLDSTYLE+ I blinked and looked at Hongo.

"I have no idea what your belt is planning, Megumi-san," he said, "but go ahead." I shrugged, then placed my hand on Hongo's shoulder. All the circles in our belts flashed blue before they spat out an i.d tag. Our own i.d tags had imagery that related to our respective rider forms. These all looked the same with red insect eyes on top and the first Kamen Rider symbol on the bottom, all of it on a green background.

"How do we use these?" asked Lukas.

+ACTIVATE YOUR ARMOR+ responded my belt. +ONCE DONE, PRESS THE RED BUTTON TO EJECT THE IDENTIFICATION TAG AND INSERT THE NEW IDENTIFICATION TAG INTO THE SLOT+

"Let me try," called Hiroki. He grabbed his i.d tag and struck the same pose he took when we met Hongo. "HENSHIN!" he said. He put the i.d tag into the belt and jumped through the blue circle to form his samurai-esque suit, thus becoming Kamen Rider Sengoku. "Now, where's the button?"

+ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BUCKLE+ replied my belt. Sengoku found said button, pressed it, and his belt spat out his i.d tag. The instant that happened, most of his armor disappeared. All that were left were the eyes, antennae, the crest on his helmet, and the purple undersuit. He put the new i.d tag into the slot. Then, two halves of a coffin like object appeared at either side. Hiroki was trying to get away, but to no avail. Finally, the coffin snapped on him and trapped him inside.

"HIROKI NEE-SAN!" I shouted. For a minute, I thought I had lost my brother. Thank God I was proven wrong when I heard a voice from inside the coffin.

"Ichigō Steel!" announced the voice. The coffin, or rather, wardrobe, then dissolved to reveal Sengoku in new armor. The helmet looked a lot like Ichigō's helmet. In fact, the armor had taken on the appearance of Hongo in his suit. Sengoku checked himself for any pain. I ran forward and hugged him, thinking I'd lost another family member. Let's just say, that's my greatest fear.

"Nee-san, I'm okay," assured Sengoku, patting my back to reassure me. "Just slightly tingly." I released Sengoku and came up with a plan.

"All right, with 20 of us," I announced to the whole group, "fixing the gateway shouldn't be a problem. Once I get the Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf i.d tags, we'll split into teams of four. Hongo's team will get the shrapnel down from that wall near the right of the gateway. Batman's team will take care of the upper right shrapnel in the back. Gandalf's team will deal with the upper left at the back. Wyldstyle's team will get the shrapnel on the left most ledge. Let's see, Hiroki, Xiomara, Richard, and myself will be with Hongo-san. Batman will have Emmanuel, Lukas, Tanisha, and Tonje. Mikhail, Livia, Haitao, and Sheela will assist Gandalf. That leaves Team Wyldstyle with Michael, Irina, Emily, and Joshua. Your respective leader's will instruct you on how to get the shrapnel down." I then placed my hand on Batman's, Gandalf's, and Wyldstyle's shoulders and got their i.d tags. Since Sengoku was already transformed. He just went to Hongo's side. Batman Steel, as his teams' belts had called it, had the cape, the cowl, and the gauntlets on gray armor with the Batman logo on it. Wyldstyle Steel had the hood, the graffiti job, and the ponytail on the armor. Gandalf steel had the hat and robes "Everybody ready?" I asked. Everyone confirmed. "Let's get to it! Hongo-san, what do you think we should do?"

"I was going to kick at the area the shrapnel was embedded in," replied Hongo, "but with five people, it will go by faster. I just need to change." He then struck the same pose as in his native dimension. "Rider…HENSHIN!" He leapt over us and changed into his suit.

"Is that…really necessary?" asked Kamen Rider Guard, Richard, in his Ichigō Steel.

"Considering that part of the belt is voice activated, yes," responded Ichigō.

"Wait, that's why you say that?!" cried Sengoku, slightly disappointed.

"Enough of that," countered Ichigō. "On three, we use our Rider Kick. Are you ready?"

"Let's do this!" called Kamen Rider Seeker, Xiomara. "Vamonos!"

"Ichi! Ni! San!" counted Ichigō. We all jumped into the air at an incredible height and propelled ourselves feet first towards the shrapnel.

"RIDER KICK!" we all shouted. The impact of five super-powered kicks got all the shrapnel out.

"Holy Child!" yelped Guard. "Those kicks pack some power!"

"I wonder what the other teams are doing?" quizzed Seeker.

* * *

Batman and his team were trying to get the shrapnel down, but the batarangs were coming up short.

"COME ON!" shouted Kamen Rider Swing, Tonje. Kamen Rider Hunt, Tanisha, sat down, wracking her brains for a solution, when she spotted something that could easily be hooked.

"Guys," she called, "what if that thing hides some form of raised platform?" The others looked to see the hook she was talking about.

"It looks thick," observed Batman. "The cable of my grapple gun might snap. Loath though I am to admit it, but since a twin attack by Lex Luthor and the Joker on Gotham proved I can't do everything on my own, I think I'm going to need some help with this one." Team Batman got their grapple guns and fired at the hook. The cables went taut as they all pulled and pulled and pulled until the hook pulled aside the blockage that prevented the platform from rising. It finally rose to a height where the batarangs could loosen the shrapnel up. Once loose enough, it fell to the ground.

Gandalf and his team had found another blockage on a rising platform, but there was no hook. Gandalf was teaching the team how to use magic and use a simple levitation spell. The spell allowed some stair to pop up so they could climb it and use magic to wiggle the shrapnel out. Once done, it fell to the floor. "I do believe you could all be excellent magic folk," praised Gandalf.

"Excellent!" cheered Kamen Rider Claw, Sheela.

* * *

Wyldstyle was trying to yank a cylinder down so a connection to the floor could be made. The operative word being "trying". She managed to jump high and catch the cylinder's edge, but she couldn't get it down. "Can't believe I'd say this, but I need more weight!" she said. Her team then leapt up and grabbed hold, pulling the cylinder down. It made a connection with the floor and raised two walls. Wyldstyle and her team effortlessly wall jumped to the top and got the shrapnel down with a sharp tug. It fell to the floor and it all turned into Lego bricks, for some odd reason. Then…it happened. At first, I didn't believe it, but Kamen Rider Outback, Joshua, rubbed his eyes.

"Am I the only one seeing this?" he asked.

"Numbers near the giant Lego bricks?" asked Kamen Rider Touché, Emily.

"Ah, Master Builder Vision," said Wyldstyle. "Tell me, do you guys feel a need to build? To create? To make something without instructions?" They all nodded. "Then act on it. Rebuild the gateway!" The new Master Builders then got to work and rebuilt it perfectly! Once finished, a platform raised with four cylinders inside. It looked like a vehicle could go through.

"Stand aside," said Batman. "Let the Batmobile take care of this." We canceled our transformations as we stepped aside to let the Batmobile drive on the new thing. It took a while, leaving Batman to drum his fingers on the wheel. Eventually, the accelerator switch stopped automatically and the Batmobile reversed. Everything started glowing blue.

"Re-routing from back-up power," said a voice. "All systems are go. Limited system functionality restored."

"Limited system functionality?" asked Wyldstyle. "Am I gonna lose an arm if I go through that thing?" It was still shaking as it generated a portal.

"It does look unstable," said Batman.

"I saw some glowing parts get sucked into it," said Hongo. "They must have been important."

"Well," said Gandalf, "it seems to be…alive, at least."

"My relic scanner's showing that there's definitely something through there," said Wyldstyle.

"Could it be leading us to the missing pieces?" asked Emmanuel.

"Could be," said Batman as he pondered.

"Or MetalBeard?" said Wyldstyle.

"Couldn't be," said Batman. Wyldstyle hmphed at this.

"If it can lead to here," I said, "then it could lead us to our friends and family." That's when a voice that sounded like it had a lot of rum screamed from the vortex.

"That's MetalBeard!" said Wyldstyle. "He's in trouble! Or, he's happy. He uses 'Aar!' for a lot of things. Either way, we have to find him!"

"Gear up, everyone!" I said as I mounted my horse. AS everyone got on their respective vehicles or horses, I gave the command. "Let's ride!" We all charged through the portal. Where will we end up? We don't know.


	5. Chapter 5

Our destination was a bright, sunny place with a yellow road leading to a green city. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't place my finger on it. "We are NOT in Gotham anymore," muttered Batman.

"I would have had a more pleasant journey on the back of that Balrog," commented Gandalf as he checked Shadowfax's hooves since he landed hoof first on the road. Hongo took a deep breath and smiled.

"The air reminds me of the countryside I would sometimes pass," he sighed in peace. "What's disagreeable about this place?"

"It's so…colorful!" hissed Batman as he tensed up.

"Yes," mused Gandalf as a peacock strutted by, "it is rather pleasant." The peacock gave a squawk of approval. Wyldstyle was looking at her scanner.

"I can't see MetalBeard," she sighed.

"Well, something's close," replied Emmanuel. "You're still tracking that signal."

"This way," called Batman. He was about to go off the path when Gandalf stopped him.

"I believe the correct course of action is to follow the yellow brick road," he commented.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" asked Emily. "In any case, it may lead to a missing gateway piece."

"Ah ah ah!" called a voice that made me snarl. "That's not for you!"

"Hiro!" I hissed. The tiny sliver of hope I had that I was wrong vanished when I saw him.

"Interesting that we should find ourselves here," mused Hiro.

"Whatever business you have does not concern this dimension!" I hissed. "Leave at once!"

"Actually, it does," countered Hiro. "My client had detected an energy signature that he recognized in this dimension. Considering he's paying me for my jobs, I'm not leaving."

"And suppose someone gets in your way?" asked Mikhail. Hiro started laughing.

"Who's going to get in my way? You?" he asked. "Don't be stupid. Megumi may be the strongest out of you lot, but she couldn't withstand my assault!"

"You cheated!" snarled Richard.

"I didn't see any wrestling ring ropes back home," replied Hiro.

"Back home?" I quizzed. "You mean Hongo-san's home dimension?"

"And my native dimension," elaborated Hiro. "I've had the Rogue Driver for some time."

"It's how that organization got the idea for a transformation belt," supplied the Rogue Driver. "What was its name…er…Seeker? Soaker? ...er…"

"Shocker?!" shouted Hongo.

"That's it!" confirmed the Rogue Driver.

+INTERFERENCE WITH A DIMENSION'S NATURAL FLOW IS A CLASS 5 OFFENSE+ announced my belt.

"Considering that the Queen ain't here to enforce it anymore," countered the Rogue Driver, "I see no reason why I should care." Hiro then shot a carriage at the side of the road, blocking the path.

"Catch you later!" called Hiro as he jumped over the carriage.

"COME BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" No sooner had I shouted that, I heard Hiro hit the other side of the carriage.

"WHAT'S THE…BIG…IDEA!" he shouted in a voice that was rapidly getting slower.

"Apologies," rasped a voice that didn't mean the apology, "but I've been plucked from my universe and dumped here in this absurd wonderland. On top of that, you…landed on…my…head! …That's a…declaration of…war…" I then heard two thuds.

"It…can't be!" I stammered, a grin forming on my face as I recognized the voice.

"We'll need to find a way past this roadblock," rasped Batman. "Let's look around."

"The carriage seems to stretch past both sides," Gandalf pointed out.

"There is the old brute force method," mused Richard.

"I think I see a hook for the grapple gun," I called. "Batman, mind helping me attach it to the carriage? It looks like a two-person job."

"Sure," affirmed Batman. It was indeed a two-person job as Batman held the hook into place while I attached it to the fabric of the carriage. Once it was attached, I struck my henshin pose.

"HENSHIN!" I announced and activated my suit. Then I swapped my i.d tag with the Batman one. The wardrobe closed on me.

"Batman Steel!" called my belt. Once that was done, the wardrobe dissolved as I had donned the cowl. Batman and I then fired our grapple guns and pulled until the carriage split apart. It revealed Hiro lying on a bed of poppies with Prince Vegeta of Dragonball Z fame! I squeed, then zipped the lip as it might wake the Saiyan Prince. Not a single person in the poppies stirred.

"Okay," gulped Wyldstyle, "so I'm guessing those are NOT normal poppies. Do we have anything that will help us cross safely?"

"Driver," I quizzed my belt as I switched to my default i.d tag and allowed the wardrobe to don the "royal steel", as it was called, on my body-suit, "do our rider forms have a means of breathing?"

+AFFIRMATIVE+ confirmed my belt. +ALL SUITS HAVE A REBREATHER IN THE HELMETS+ +YOU CAN EVEN BREATHE IN THE VACUUM OF SPACE+

"My helmet also lets me breath in air that's not suitable for normal humans," replied Hongo, "and the horses for the Vortex Riders are machines, so they don't need to worry, but that leaves Gandalf-san and his horse, Batman-san, and Wyldstyle-san."

"Actually," countered Wyldstyle, "with the parts from the carriage, I can upgrade my bike to help the horse." Shadowfax seemed to agree wholeheartedly with that idea.

"You can ride with me, Gandalf," offered Batman as he entered the Batmobile. Gandalf then boarded the vehicle while Wyldstyle upgraded the bike to allow Shadowfax to ride, the rest of the Vortex Riders transformed. We all got on our respective steeds, Shadowfax entered the new bike, Batman activated the Batmobile and we all moved around the sleeping Prince Vegeta and Hiro. We soon got away from the deadly poppy field. Gandalf and Batman got out of the Batmobile.

"I think this contraption," mused the gray wizard as he patted the Batmobile, "could almost give Shadowfax a run for his money." Shadowfax heard that and snorted in offense. Then, we heard something ahead of us.

"Is that…singing?" asked Wyldstyle. The lyrics sounded familiar. Emily's eyes went wide in delight when she heard it.

" _We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!_

_We hear he is a whiz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was!_

_If ever, or whether a wiz there was, the Wizard of Oz is one,_

_Because, because, because, because, because, because,_

_Because of the wonderful things he does!"_

"IT'S OZ!" shouted Emily. "WE'RE IN THE MERRY OLD LAND OF OZ!"

"And everyone can give me the idiot prize!" I berated myself. Emily had played _The Wizard of Oz_ until she scratched the DVD back at the abandoned factory, which I lovingly christened Castle Nerd-Skull.

"Then Dorothy and her friends must be singing their way to the Emerald City!" guessed Richard.

"It's not just singing," mused Gandalf, "it's a singing scarecrow, amongst other oddities."

"The Scarecrow!" snarled Batman. "I knew it! This is all a hallucination!" He charged towards Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.

"I think he's going crazy," observed Wyldstyle.

"'Going', my dear?" asked Gandalf. "He's wearing a bat costume."

"You guys don't understand," explained Xiomara, "there's a member of Batman's Rogues Gallery called the Scarecrow that uses gas to commit his crimes. The gas targets your phobia and makes you suffer hallucinations based around that phobia."

"So, if I breathed the fear gas, I'd start seeing spiders crawling all over me and freak out?" asked Mikhail.

"Exactly!" confirmed Xiomara.

"But the Scarecrow from Oz really is a scarecrow!" yelped Emily.

"He's having the same kind of misunderstanding I had!" realized Hongo.

"After him!" I called. I say that a lot, don't I? Batman was moving from hiding place to hiding place very quickly until he stopped in front of Dorothy's gang.

"You're coming with me, Scarecrow!" he hissed!

"Another one to join us on our journey!" cheered Dorothy. "And what are you missing?"

"A sense of humor," replied Batman. "Hand him over!"

"But why ever would we do that?" asked Dorothy.

"Because he's a heartless villain!" explained Batman, losing patience.

"No," countered the Tin Man, "I'm heartless. He's brainless."

"Batman!" called Xiomara as we caught up. "That's not a person making it move! It's just straw!"

"What?" yelped Batman. "Then how is he moving?"

"I don't know," replied Xiomara, "but that's not Dr. Jonathan Crane! That's a real scarecrow!"

"Am I still a villain, though?" asked the Scarecrow.

"I s-s-see something s-s-scary!" stammered the Cowardly Lion as he pointed to the portal behind them.

"What? Is it Toto again?" asked the Tin Man in a callous tone. Wait, what?!

"Oh my!" cried Dorothy. "You ARE heartless!" That's when they started getting sucked into the portal. "Oh no! Not another tornado!" The portal then closed once they were inside. A faint bit of laughter could be heard.

"What on Middle-Earth is going on?!" yelped Gandalf.

"Yeah, who was that laughing?" asked Wyldstyle.

"I don't…know!" hissed Batman, his patience for this whole mess at an end.

"Emily," asked Richard, "was the Tin Man always a jerk before he got a heart?"

"No, he was still kind before he met the wizard," replied Emily.

"Look!" called Wyldstyle as she pointed down the yellow brick road. "Is that one of the missing pieces from the gateway?" It was a purple oval with a symbol of three circles in an upside-down triangle pattern. The points started from cyan, to yellow, to magenta with arrows pointing in the direction I had described.

"Yes," confirmed Batman. "Let's grab it and get out of this place!"

"What about Vegeta?" I asked.

"Who?" quizzed Batman.

"The man with the pointy hair asleep with Hiro in the poppies back there!" I explained.

"Do we need him?" asked Batman.

"No, but I do," said a voice. We all turned to see a cat-like humanoid with purple skin, no fur, and Egyptianesque clothing. His tail flicked lazily. "I see someone reactivated the gateway," observed the creature. I trembled a bit but held it in check.

"Er, can someone explain who he is and why he knows the guy in the poppies?" asked Emmanuel.

"That's Lord Beerus," I gulped, "God of Destruction in the _Dragon Ball_ franchise."

"And I am honored to meet you!" called Emmanuel, getting the scope of the guy. He knelt down in front of Beerus.

"Oh, please, get up!" hissed Beerus. "I can't stand groveling." I wanted to argue the point as various episodes had him act indifferent to groveling, even slightly enjoying it, but who argues with a god of destruction? "In any case, I'm taking Vegeta back with me. He's got training to do and gallivanting across the multiverse is the last thing he needs."

"A tournament's coming up?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," confirmed Beerus. He headed over to the poppies "In any case, I'll just take Vegeta here and be on my way."

"Er, Lord Beerus!" I called as he entered the poppies. Oddly enough, he wasn't affected as he picked up Vegeta.

"You were about to say something?" asked Beerus as he slung Vegeta over his shoulder.

"Er…never mind," I murmured. Beerus shrugged and turned to leave before he tripped over Hiro. He then angrily kicked him out of the poppies and disappeared. I wish he hadn't done that, but them's the breaks. He then left in his own manner as Hiro woke up.

"Oooogh," he groaned. "What hit me?" He looked around to see that we were strategically walking away from him. Unknown to us, he followed.

"We're almost there!" called Gandalf as the gateway piece came closer with each step we took. "Goodness, this has been remarkably easy, hasn't it?"

"Oh, you just had to jinx it, didn't you?!" hissed Batman.

"I can't believe a wizard would ever say that!" cried Lukas. That was when we heard an evil cackle.

"And the Wicked Witch of the West decides to buzz us!" hissed Emily. The Wicked Witch was indeed flying overhead on her broom, green skin, black clothing, hat and flying monkeys completing her look.

"Now that the meddling do-gooder is gone, all of Oz is mine!" cackled the Witch. "So long, Dorothy! So long!" One of the monkeys ooked, tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed at the gateway piece. The Witch got a look at the thing. "What's that? Something magical?" A grin as wicked as her attitude appeared on her face. "It looks so pretty! It feels so powerful!" She turned to the flying monkeys. "They can't have it!" she ordered. The monkeys got into formation and dived with her in front.

"It would appear we're not the only ones interested in the gateway pieces," observed Gandalf.

"GRAB IT!" I shouted as I mounted my horse. The rest of us got on our horses/vehicles and charged at the gateway piece.

"No!" called Hiro from behind us. "No, it's mine!" He summoned a demonic looking motorcycle and sped off after us.

"Get away from my property!" ordered the Witch. "…Whatever it is!" Some monkeys almost scalped us with a sweeping dive!

"We've got monkey dive-bombers!" warned Batman. "…Can't believe I just said that."

"Ugh," groaned Wyldstyle. "This place makes Cloud Cuckoo Land look normal!" Hiro then used a mechanism in his bike's seat and launched himself at the Witch, knocking her off the broom. I sped towards the gateway piece and leaned to grab it when Hiro shot my rear and knocked me off my horse! The Witch then threw Hiro into me and ran for the piece while I grabbed Hiro by the legs and used him as a club to knock her away.

"So," said the Witch as she summoned an ugly looking green fireball, "you won't take a warning, eh? I'll take care of you now!" She then cackled wildly as she trapped us all in a ring of green flames. I then heard a yelp as a man in casual clothes run out of the flames slapping his rear to put it out. I was too busy fighting the Witch and Hiro to give the man much thought. I then got out the i.d tag and struck a pose.

"HENSHIN!" I announced. I then leapt through the blue circle and became Kamen Rider Royal. "Kamen Rider Royal!" I said. "Evil will ultimately bow to me!"

"We'll see about that!" countered the Witch. She got back on her broomstick and took to the air to cast more ugly green fireballs!

"That broomstick of hers," observed Wyldstyle, "it's defying gravity somehow!"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" called Irina. The man that had his rear on fire had put it out and grinned.

"Magic against magic," he chuckled. "This should be fun." He then put a ring on his right middle finger with a hand design on it and held it in front of his belt buckle with a hand design like the ring.

"Driver on, please!" announced a voice. That's when everybody payed attention to the man as a silver belt with a black hand with gold trim appeared around his waist. He then flipped some switches on both sides of the belt, making the hand move from the right to the left. The belt started singing, of all things. "Shabadoobie, touch to henshin! Shabadoobie, touch to henshin!" The man put a ring on his left middle finger. It had a smooth cut, round ruby in the center with some sort visor on top that was connected to a hinge.

"Henshin!" announced the man as he flipped the visor on the ring over the ruby, giving it eyes. He then held the ring over the belt.

"Flame, please!" called the belt. A red runic circle appeared on the man's left side and passed through him. "Hi! Hi! Hi, hi, HI!" (Pronounced "he", not "high") He ended up in a black suit with a black trench coat, silver shoulder pads, square cut rubies running down the front of the coat, a red interior of the coat, and a silver helmet with a ruby on the face with the ring's visor design on the face. I had only seen one Kamen Rider series from start to finish, and that's the rider!

"Saa, showtime da!" (Now, it's showtime!) announced the rider.

"Kamen Rider Wizard!" I cheered. The Witch blinked, then an evil grin crossed he face again.

"Your outfit just gave me an idea!" she said. "A spell to halt the progress ahead! To freeze, to bind my foes in red!" She cackled again. A slew of red chains wrapped around us all! Kamen Rider Wizard slowly moved his arms to get his hands on the belt's levers and swapped the hand to the right again. The belt started singing again!

"Lupachi magic, touch to go! Lupachi magic, touch to go!" He then moved his hand to a ring strap which were silver with an orange gem in the center. They each had a design on the top. The one Wizard grabbed had a dragon poking its head and wing out of a portal. He replaced the hand ring on his hand with the new ring and scanned it on his belt, the WizarDriver. "Connect, please!" said the belt as a small red runic circle appeared near his hand. He put his hand in and grabbed some sort of intricate silver gun with a left hand making a fist on the end of it. He pulled the trigger and shot the broom the Witch was on. She fell off and it broke her concentration, thus making the chains disappear.

"You bothersome little worm! I'll get you for that!" she shouted. She then started swinging her broom around like a weapon. I got an idea and touched Wizard's shoulder. My belt then got the Wizard i.d tag. I then stole a ring with a shovel design.

"Hey!" protested Wizard.

"Borrowing!" I replied. I swapped my i.d tag with the Wizard one.

+IDENTIFICATION TAG HAS MULTIPLE FORMS+ said my belt. +SELECT FORM+ Four circles appeared in front of me with the different form rings for Wizard. I picked the one with the square citrine. The wardrobe closed around me. "Wizard Land Steel!" said my belt. It then said "Land, please! Dododo Dododon, Don Dododon!" in the WizarDriver's voice. This form takes the trench coat of wizard with whatever gems it's studded with, in this case, citrine. I couldn't resist.

"Saa, showtime da!" I announced.

"First my ring, then my land style, now my words!" cried Wizard.

"Like I said, I'm borrowing them," I countered. I then mimed flipping the levers on the WizarDriver and heard the familiar chant of "Lupachi magic, touch to go!" I then scanned the ring I swiped from Wizard over my driver. From the words of "Dig, please!" I'd say it was a dig ring. Several yellow runic circles appeared. The parts of the ground they were hovering over disappeared in dust, leaving holes once they vanished. Some of us tumbled into the holes, the Witch included. She poked her head out to address her troops.

"What are you flying fools waiting for?!" she screeched. "Attack! Attack!" The monkeys started throwing rocks at us. One of the rocks knocked the Witch's hat off! "Watch it!" she screeched as she jammed it back on her head and dived into the hole.

"Just when I thought today couldn't get any MORE strange!" rasped Batman. He dove into a hole to get away from the monkeys. The rest that didn't fall in the holes I made originally followed suit. I heard a bunch of people say "Henshin!" with only one "Rider…HENSHIN!" over them. I met with Kamen Rider Arch, Emmanuel in the tunnels connecting the holes.

"Thoughts, your highness?" he asked.

"It's probably going to turn into a whack-a-mole game," I guessed "10 points on whacking your enemies, minus 20 on hitting the Witch."

"This whole fight is making me see red!" protested Arch.

"Stay in the red mist, that's just fine!" called the Witch. "Your thoughts, your moves, your actions are MINE!" Red chains appeared around us again. From what I saw overhead, Kamen Rider Kämpfer, Lukas, was lifted out of the hole. Her mistake, his gain, as he leveled his updated crossbow at her hat and fired! The crossbow bolt knocked the hat off, making lose concentration again. She screamed in frustration. "I'll teach pesky little troublemakers like you to get in my way!" she snarled. At that point we all got out. Rogue was about to fire when I sucker punched him, leaving Wizard open to fire his WizarSwordGun. He didn't leave it in gun mode and instead unfolded it into sword mode.

"I have it!" called Ichigō. He had the gateway piece in his hands. In retrospect, he shouldn't have said that.

"A spell to halt the progress ahead! To freeze, to bind my foe in red!" This time, the chains wrapped around only Ichigō. Rogue charged to get the gateway piece, only to get tackled by the monkeys.

"GET OFF ME, YOU OVERSIZED WINGED MACAQUES!" he shouted.

"Tufted Capuchins, actually," countered a voice. Rogue turned to see a monkey's fist deck him. Meanwhile, more of the now named Winged Capuchins had gotten their hands on Ichigō and got the gateway piece back on the ground from all the movement. Arch had let an arrow fly towards the Witch, making her dodge and retreat to the air.

"I'll get you, my pretty," she swore, "and your giant dog, too!" She was referring to the Dark Knight.

"I'm a bat…man!" he replied.

"Seize the shiny and fly! Fly back to the castle!" ordered the Witch to her troops. "And what did I tell you about speaking?!" One of the monkeys rolled his eyes and started scratching his pits.

"Ook, ook," he muttered. He then charged towards the gateway piece.

"Nuh-uh!" protested Wyldstyle as she ran towards the piece. "No you don't!" She leapt up to grab it. Too little, too late. The monkey already grabbed it. She fell face first on the road. As the monkey started flying to rejoin the witch, she started taunting us.

"You'll have to be faster than that, my fine lady!" she boasted. "Without my sister's ruby slippers, you're no match for me! Away, my pretties! Away!" The whole troop flew off towards the west, where her castle was. The flames had died and Rogue was mad.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" he roared at me. "IF YOU HADN'T INTERFERED, THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"I hold no responsibility over this," I countered.

"Bah!" snapped Rogue as he cancelled the transformation. He then boarded his bike. "When next we meet, you won't survive!" he swore to me. His bike then summoned a portal as he sped through. I then turned to Wizard.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"I'll explain on the way," he replied as he used the connect ring again to summon his motorcycle. He then dehenshined into Haruto Soma. "For now, that piece may be my only way home and I need to get home now. Phantoms are invading again and I need to stop them."

"Then help us and we can get you home," I offered.

"After her!" called Batman as he boarded the Batmobile.

"Hey, that's my line!" I shouted as I mounted my horse. We all got on our vehicles, dehenshined, and sped off into the west.


	6. Chapter 6

“So, how did you get here in Oz?” I asked Haruto-san after Hiroki and I explained to everybody who he is.

“I was fighting a new Phantom that I had never seen before,” explained Haruto, “when that lunatic Rider, Hiro, decided to interfere. He killed the Phantom, leading me to believe that he was a friend. That was a mistake. He opened a portal, threw me inside while saying that I’m one less interference. Somehow, it ended in a town of little people, about half my height. I was met with a woman in a gown similar to yours, but in lightish pink, a tall silver crown, and a staff with a silver star on the end of it.”

“Must have been Glinda,” mused Emily. “In the books, she’s the Good Witch of the south while in the 1939 movie, the one that this dimension is set in, she rules the north.”

“I didn’t get her name at first,” continued Haruto, “because once I introduced myself so I could ask her questions, one has to be polite in a new land, a bunch of black boxes with red eyes and clawed fingers on tendrils started attacking.”

“That description sounds a lot like the Micro-managers from my dimension,” said Wyldstyle, “but Lord Business had taken them apart for Master Builders to use as they see fit. Heck, one of his robots in a saloon girl disguise became a Master Builder!”

“In any case,” continued Haruto, “I turned into Wizard and fought them off, helping the Munchkins rebuild their town and part of the yellow brick road, as well as their red one. Glinda helped out as well and finally introduced herself to me, calling me a good wizard. She offered to help me since I helped the Munchkins. I told her that I needed to go home and she told me of the Emerald City, the Wizard of Oz, and how to get there. That’s when the Munchkins started singing _Follow the Yellow Brick Road._ And now, I’ve put it back in my head!”

“Americans call it an earworm,” muttered Hiroki.

“Appropriate name for it,” murmured Haruto.

“I can think of worse earworms,” I countered. “There’s _Frozen_ ’s…” My horse then started whinnying nervously. The same was with the other horses, even Shadowfax.

“My lady,” called Gandalf, “we’re near the Haunted Woods Dame Emily spoke of. I recommend we continue on foot. The horses are too restless.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “Dismount!” We all got off our horses and reassured them that we’ll be back. Batman got out of the Batmobile, locked it, and Wyldstyle, Hongo, and Haruto dismounted their bikes. We had to crawl under a fallen tree to enter the woods.

“I believe the castle that witch spoke of lies beyond these woods,” mused Gandalf. We traveled farther near a tree with an apple and encountered more flying monkeys. “Oh dear, more of these repulsive creatures?” We fought them off, but a monkey I sent flying knocked the apple off the tree. The tree started moving as it revealed a face and arms!

“What do you think you’re doing!” snapped the tree. “Oh, you!” He started hurling things at us! Gandalf cast a barrier to protect us.

“I’ve never heard of an Ent that acted and spoke in such terrible ways!” he cried.

“That thing is no Ent, it’s a menace!” countered Emily. “We need to get it out of here!” It was then I heard someone’s stomach growl. I turned to Lukas.

“That wasn’t mine!” he argued. “Herr Haruto used a donut ring, remember? I already had food!”

“That’s right,” confirmed Hiroki. “You were the only one to refuse a plain sugar donut! It’s your stomach that growled!”

“Not true!” I protested. A louder growl came through. We all realized it was everyone’s stomachs. “Oh, for God’s sakes!” I shouted to my stomach. “We’re on a journey to save the multiverse! What do you want?!” My stomach growled louder. “Oh, complain, complain, complain! That’s all you do!”

“Your highness,” called Emily, “I have an idea.” Her voice got louder. “We’ll just find another, more respectable tree, without apples like his!”

“Are you hinting my apples aren’t what they ought to be?!” shouted the tree.

“Oh no!” countered Emily. “We just don’t want little green worms!” That got the tree mad as he started plucking the apples off of his branches and started throwing them instead of the debris in the forest. I then got the idea.

“You call that a throwing arm?!” I shouted. “Come on! My grandma throws harder than that!” That wasn’t an empty taunt. My adopted grandmother’s throwing arm is scary strong! That made the tree madder and he started throwing twice as fast. It went from taunt to throw to taunt to throw that even Batman started joining it. Soon the tree went back to throwing debris. “Haruto-san, do you have a spell that can get rid of the tree?” I asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” he cheered. He then put a ring on with an axe design and waved it over the hand shaped belt buckle, the Hand Author.

“Chop, please!” announced the Hand Author’s voice as it summoned a giant axe, scaring the tree into running away.

“Okay, you can…” my request came too little, too late as the axe chopped down the other trees, blocking our path, “…get rid of the axe.” I finished lamely.

“Gomen'nasai!” (I’m sorry!) gulped Haruto.

“Can’t be helped,” replied Gandalf. “In any case, I believe we have something to tide us over.”

“Apple break, everyone,” I announced. “We’ll clear the debris later.” Us dress wearers held our topmost skirts for the apples to rest while the rest gathered them up. Once all apples were retrieved, we put them in a pile and started munching. We had a 10-minute break and finished them off in that time frame. We tossed the cores into the bushes and approached the debris. Haruto used a levitation spell ring to clear it.

“My Lady, the way is clear,” he called.

“Haruto-san, you are too kind,” I replied as I curtsied. We proceeded to another clearing which had another roadblock of rocks.

“Your Highness,” requested Emmanuel, “permettez-moi.” He then started hurling the rocks out of the way. Say what you want about him and his clothing preferences, but Emmanuel is very strong.

“Merci!” I thanked. The others were impressed.

“Ah, yeah!” cheered Wyldstyle. “Now that was cool!”

“Maybe,” replied Emmanuel, “but the bridge to the castle is out on the other end.”

“Drat,” I hissed. “Is there any indication of a grappling hook?”

“I’m afraid not,” reported Emmanuel.

“What about the debris?” asked Gandalf. “We could use it to repair the bridge.”

“That would take too long,” I countered.

“Not as long as you have magic,” replied Haruto. I turned to him.

“You think you guys can build a bridge?” I asked.

“If we have at least three more magic using folk,” replied Gandalf.

“All right,” I cheered. “Richard, use Gandalf Steel and help Haruto and Gandalf lift the debris to form the new bridge part. Hiroki, Wizard Steel with me. We’ll go into flame style and solidify the debris so it can support our weight. Haruto, what ring would accomplish that?”

“A ring called meld works best,” explained Haruto. “Before you ask to borrow that ring, I’d like to point out that during our fight on the yellow brick road, your ‘Wizard Steel’ had the same ring loops as mine. The meld ring was on there. It has a design of metal shards forming a river.”

“Thank you,” I replied. That makes the job a lot easier. Hiroki, Richard, and I struck our henshin poses.

“HENSHIN!” we announced. Our armor formed and almost immediately, we swapped out our i.d tags for the magic ones.

“Gandalf Steel!” called Richard’s belt. While the wardrobe dissolved, Hiroki and I chose the flame style.

“Wizard Flame Steel!” announced our belts. “Flame, please! Hi! Hi! Hi, hi, HI!” Our flame style armor appeared and we got our rings on.

“Everyone in position?” I asked. Everyone confirmed. “Let’s do it!”

“Levitate, please!” called Haruto’s Hand Author as he, Gandalf, and Richard brought the debris to the destroyed section of bridge and formed the shape. Hiroki and I mimed flipping the levers on a WizarDriver and heard the chant of “Lupachi magic, touch to go!” We scanned the meld ring.

“Meld, please!” announced our belts as a wave of heat washed over the debris to make a solid patch for the bridge. Batman looked at the castle.

“A gigantic castle for just one person?” he mused. A grin formed on his face. “I’m beginning to like this witch!”

“You’re not gonna try and upgrade your base into a castle, are you?” asked Xiomara.

“Hmm,” pondered Batman. “The Bat-Castle has a nice ring to it.”

“And when the people of Gotham mistake you for a vampire?” asked Xiomara. I never thought anything of the “spooky” persuasion would make the Dark Knight shudder, but apparently, vampires do.

“Don’t remind me!” he shuddered. “I’ve met some guys that dressed like vampires wanting to suck my blood with special syphons around the canines! Forget it, no Bat-Castle!”

“Oh boy,” gulped Emily as Richard, Hiroki, and I cancelled our transformations.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“We’ve got Winkies patrolling the castle!” reported Emily. The Winkies in this dimension were green-skinned like the Witch and wore gray outfits with orange designs, signifying rank, most likely, and black boots. They all carried halberds and chanted “Oh-Ee-Yah, Ee-Yo-Ah!” to keep the rhythm of their march. A patrol was marching into the castle.

“Crud,” I swore. “With the Witch in possession of a gateway piece of unknown power, she probably doubled the guard!”

“Then why don’t we walk in there?” asked Haruto.

“Are you out of your tiny little mind?!” I yelped.

“Well, there is a disguise ring,” explained Haruto.

“That’s right,” exclaimed Hiroki, “the Dress-Up ring!”

“The what?!” asked Wyldstyle.

“Haruto can go in disguise if a mission against a Phantom needs stealth,” I explained. “But, the question is, can it work on all of us?”

“I don’t know,” mused Haruto as he put on a ring with the design looking like a dragon with a bow tie on. “Let’s find out.” He then waved it over the Hand Author.

“Dress-Up, please!” announced the Hand Author. Haruto then stuck his arm out and runic circles passed over us, putting us in Winkie outfits. It also gave us the skin color of the Winkies. Batman blinked at the outfit.

“I look ridiculous!” he hissed.

“Just go along with it!” I whispered back. “Emily, since your our resident expert on all things Oz, you lead us in.”

“Follow my lead, everyone!” called Emily. We got into two lines, with Emily leading in between. She set the marching rhythm and started chanting “Oh-Ee-Yah, Ee-Yo-Ah!” We soon followed suit and marched right up to the drawbridge with the portcullis already lowered. The Captain of the Guard stopped us.

“I don’t recall a patrol in that formation!” he barked. He turned to Emily. “What sector were you patrolling?”

“Sector 21, sir!” answered Emily.

“The Western Border, I see,” mused the Captain. “Anything to report?”

“A cantankerous apple tree started hurling objects at us,” reported Emily. “We got rid of it.”

“How did an Eastern Talking Tree wander in here?” asked the Captain to himself. He shook his head. “In any case, anything else to report?”

“No, sir,” replied Emily. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Right,” finished the Captain, “Off you…” he was interrupted by another group of Winkies coming up the path. “Wait your turn!” barked the Captain. “I need to clear the patrol for Sector 21 here!”

“That’s us, sir,” said the head of that patrol. Uh oh! The Captain arched an eyebrow.

“That’s impossible,” he snapped “These soldiers are the patrol for Sector 21!”

“No, sir, we are!” argued the Patrol Commander.

“Sir,” called one of the Guard Captain’s immediate subordinates, “permission to point out some observations?”

“Permission granted,” replied the Captain.

“First, sir, you will recall that our women are being admitted into the army?” asked the subordinate.

“Right,” confirmed the Captain.

“Well, sir,” elaborated the subordinate, “didn’t our master say that they will be part of the army next week?” Uh oh times two!

“Hey,” realized the Captain, “yeah, you’re right!”

“Second, sir,” continued the subordinate, “article 9, section 2, paragraph 3 states that all soldiers must be well groomed, subsection 4 states that beards are not allowed!” He pointed to Gandalf, Mikhail, and Richard. Uh oh times three! “Third, sir,” continued the subordinate, “that bridge wasn’t repaired until a few minutes before they arrived! My conclusion…”

“YOU LOT ARE THE IMPOSTERS!” roared the Captain. The disguise was cancelled. “SOUND THE ALARM! RAISE THE DRAWBRIDGE! GET THESE INTRUDERS IN CHAINS!” ordered the Captain.

“Well, time to go in Marine style!” called Richard.

“Marine style?” asked Hongo and Haruto.

“We’re fighting our way through!” I translated as I got my i.d tag.

“Now THAT I can get behind,” cheered Tonje.

“Driver on, please!” announced the Hand Author as it turned into the WizarDriver. Haruto then flipped the levers and the familiar chant of “Shabadoobie, touch to henshin!” started playing.

“Rider…” began Hongo. Haruto took out the flame style ring.

“HENSHIN!” we all shouted.

“Flame, please! Hi! Hi! Hi, hi, HI!” sang the WizarDriver. Soon, all riders were in their suits and we started fighting off the Winkies. Arch tossed one into the moat. Insert Wilhelm scream here. Our weapons knocked down a bunch and Ichigō used his own fighting style to get rid of them. “Excite, please!” announced the WizarDriver. Wizard then grew to gigantic proportions to kick the Winkies away. The enemy was gone, but the problem of the drawbridge remained.

“There should be some outdoor controls,” called Batman.

“I see them in that guard house,” replied Kämpfer. “Batman, help me out. The rest of you, clear off. Let the techs work.”

“I hope the Wicked Witch isn’t expecting house guests,” gulped Wyldstyle.

“Considering we did raise a ruckus and knock over all the soldiers,” countered Tanisha, “the possibility of a ‘warm’ reception is very high.” The sound of chains snapping made a red light go off in my head.

“Back away!” I shouted. Everyone was clear when the drawbridge went down. The portcullis was still down, but there was a mechanism that a batarang could spin. Batman tossed one and the portcullis went up. We charged inside to see the Witch above us.

“So, you made it inside, did you?” she screeched. “Well, I hope you like it here, because I’m going to make sure you never leave!” She cackled as she fled to her tower room. The door with a flying monkey design closed behind her.

“Uh oh,” gulped Wyldstyle, “I thought things were going a little too well.” We fought off some more Winkies and headed to the wooden stairs with a candelabra on top. A flying monkey flew in and knocked it over, setting it on fire. It revealed part of a wall jump panel and a box hidden underneath. “Time to think outside the box,” chuckled Wyldstyle as her relic detector found a grappling hook. Kamen Riders Clash and Swing, Livia and Tonje respectively, activated Batman Steel and together with Batman, they pulled the box apart. The box contained panels to complete wall jumping. Once they were set up, Kamen Rider Zhànshì, Haitao, and Kamen Rider Battle, Michael, activated Wyldstyle steel and wall jumped up to the top level. A couple of Winkies swung their halberds but were no match for two of my 15 best friends. Once they were finished with the guards, Battle and Zhànshì let down a rope to let the rest of us up. When he got up, Gandalf magically picked the lock on the door to open it up. Once opened, we went up the stairs to the Witch’s tower, opened the door, and poked our heads inside. We then cautiously stepped inside to see the gateway piece.

“Maybe she’s not here,” whispered Wizard.

“That, or she’s hiding,” countered Batman. Sadly, the Dark Knight was right.

“So,” screeched the Witch, “you’ve come to steal my treasure, have you?” She then held the piece in her hands. It started glowing and made three portals in the air. One was cyan, one was magenta, and one was yellow. “Shift! Witch! Yellow!” said the Witch. Another yellow portal opened beneath her and she was sucked in. She ended up coming out of the yellow portal in the air. “And you think you’ll escape with it, do you?” she said to us. “You won’t even escape with your lives!” She cackled as usual.

“Why can’t you two do that kind of magic?” Batman asked Gandalf and Wizard. Gandalf harrumphed at that comment.

“That kind of magic is beyond what I’m capable of,” argued Wizard. “Besides, what she’s doing is not really magic.”

“Exactly!” supported Gandalf. “All she’s doing is moving faster than the eye can follow!”

“Then let’s find a way to stop her!” exclaimed Wyldstyle.

“Go ahead and try!” shrieked the Witch. “You can’t steal my new toy from me! I’m the only one who knows how to use it! It’s of no use to you! What are you people, anyway?”

“Steal?” asked Ichigō.

“We are no mere burglars,” argued Gandalf. “Although, I do happen to know a rather good one.”

“As for who we are,” began Outback, “Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your back, mate!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“Kamen Rider Wizard! Saa, showtime da!”

“Erm, I am Gandalf the Gray!” stammered Gandalf, as he was unused to saying a catchphrase, “I shall weave a spell of defeat over you!”

“…I’m Wyldstyle! And I am not a DJ!” Wyldstyle figured she’d get that out of the way, not that the Witch would know what a DJ is.

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!” Really? Going with a movie title? Not that you’d know about that.

“Time to go the Heisei route,” muttered Ichigō. “I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!” He then struck his starting Henshin pose, his red scarf flapping in the breeze.

“You’ll be called corpses when I’m through with you!” shrieked the Witch.

“Guys,” called Sengoku, “I have a plan.” We huddled up so she couldn’t hear us. “Emily, old Greenie over there hates water, right?”

“Right,” confirmed Touché, “in the book, she was so wicked, all the liquid in her body had dried up.”

“Well, first, we need to find a way to close those portals,” planned Sengoku. “I’m going to need some cages and chains to hold them in the air.”

“They’re all over the room,” observed Batman.

“My bind ring should hold them,” supplied Wizard.

“Excellent!” cheered Sengoku. “All we need to do is taunt her so she gets down. When that’s done, I want a Master Build of a hydro cannon connected to Wizard’s WizarSwordGun in gun mode. For the Finale, I’ll need a water shooting strike with Batman and Gandalf aiming the cannon’s barrel at the Witch.”

“What do you want the rest of us to do?” asked Arch.

“The Witch will make her soldiers fight us,” explained Sengoku. “We’ll hold them off.”

“I’ll be taunting her,” cheered Touché.

“Then we have a plan!” I exclaimed. “Minna, ikōyo!” (Everyone, let’s go!) Touché, Wizard, and Guard started hurling insults while Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf gathered bars for cages and the rest of us kept the monkeys and Winkies at bay.

“Stay in the red mist, that’s just fine!” began the Witch. “Your thoughts, your moves, your…”

“RIDER KICK!” shouted Ichigō as he leapt up into the air, pulled his left leg up, stuck his right leg straight out, and kicked her off her broom.

“All right, mister!” snarled the Witch. “You’ll pay for that! The form I see shall seal your fate! Let the man’s armor be my new shape!” Green fire surrounded her and formed some sort of suit. Once the flames died down, the suit turned out to be like Ichigō’s, but it was black with a point on the helmet, green eyes, and a green mouth cover. She then started delivering punches with the same power as Ichigō.

“Bind, please!” announced the WizarDriver as the cages were finished. One of them had a Flying Monkey, but we got rid of it. The cages were raised.

“Sheesh!” I taunted. “You’re too slow, Witchy-poo!”

“I’ll show you slow!” snapped the Witch. “Shift! Witch! Cyan!” She found herself in a cage. “What the? Shift! Witch! Magenta!” Another cage. “Shift! Witch! Yellow!” Another cage. “Shift! Witch! Magenta!” Back in the cage. She started shaking it until it dropped on the crystal ball. “Curses! CURSES! My crystal ball! My new powers are…gone! GONE!!”

“I think I’ve got an idea to keep her preoccupied,” called Wyldstyle. “Seeker, Battle, time to get building!”

“Arch, Guard!” I ordered. “With me!” The three of us leapt into the air with both feet in front of us. “RIDER ROYAL KICK!” I shouted.

“RIDER GUARD KICK!” announced Guard.

“RIDER ARCH KICK!” called Arch. Our kicks threw her for a loop while Wyldstyle, Seeker, and Battle finished the pump. I grabbed her shoulder and got her i.d tag.

“Time to change styles!” exclaimed Wizard. He flipped the levers on his belt, making it chant again. This time, he scanned a ring that had the visor of the flame style ring, but it had a diamond shaped sapphire instead of a ruby.

“Water, please!” announced the WizarDriver. “Sui-Sui, Sui-Sui!” The chant almost sounded like Beach Boys music. A blue runic circle came down over his head to his boots, changing the outfit from red to blue, even changing the jewel shapes on his coat and giving his helmet a point at the top of the eyes. He tossed Wyldstyle, Seeker, and Battle his WizarSwordGun and helped them complete the Hydro Cannon. The Witch was still dazed from three simultaneous flying kicks, so Batman and Gandalf adjusted the cannon while Wizard pulled the thumb on the hand to open it. It started chanting “Come on and shoot! Shake hands! Come on and shoot! Shake hands!”

“The finale!” called Wizard as he scanned the water style ring.

“Water, shooting strike!” announced the fancy gun/sword hybrid. “Sui, sui, sui! Sui, sui, sui!” He pulled the trigger and unleashed a torrent of water on the Witch. Once over, she gave us a mad look as she shrieked in fear.

“YOU CURSED BRAT!” she shouted.

“Bat,” countered Batman. I think you guys know who said this part.

“I’m melting! MELTING! Oh, what a world, what a world! Make sure to cancel my newspaper delivery!” I will admit, asking to cancel your newspaper delivery as your final words shows remarkable foresight on your part, but it’s still a weird choice of last words. The Wicked Witch of the West had melted away and all that was left of her existence were her clothes, hat, and broomstick. Arch poked the remains with his foot to check if she was alive. After confirming her death, we cancelled our transformations. Haruto released a sigh of relief.

“I’ve never been in my suit that long,” he panted.

“Starts to smell after a while,” I agree.

“Speaking of smell,” quizzed Gandalf, “how do you suppose she ever took a bath?” Wyldstyle sniffed the air.

“Maybe that isn’t monkeys we can smell?” she guessed.

“Phew!” exclaimed Michael as he sniffed. “And I thought the French smell bad!”

“Pardon?!” hissed Emmanuel. Thankfully, a bubble floated in before there was another British and French war. It dissolved to reveal Glinda in all her pink and silver wearing glory.

“Well!” she called. “I see that there are quite a few good witches and wizards here!”

“Lady Glinda!” yelped Emily as she got on one knee. We all did the same.

“No need for that,” assured Glinda. “You’re all heroes. It is I who should be kneeling to you.” That was when Winkies and Flying monkeys burst into the tower and saw the remains of their former master.

“She’s…she’s dead!” exclaimed the Winkie leader. “You killed her!”

“Who are you?” asked the Monkey Chieftain. I realized that we don’t have a group name…until now.

“We’re called the Vortex Riders and…” I was about to apologize, for all the good it’ll do, when the Winkie leader knelt down.

“Hail to the Vortex Riders! The Wicked Witch is dead!” he announced. The rest of the Winkies and Monkeys genuflected and repeated the Winkie leader’s words. Well, most did, but those that got down didn’t see.

“Erm, thank you,” I stammered. I wasn’t sure how to respond to this situation. When one of the F.N.S kneels, he or she is playing the role of a reigning monarch’s subject. It’s just an act for us that we enjoy to the point of hamming it up. These are people that live such a life 24/7. I’m not an actual princess, but they don’t know that.

“Please, let us help you!” pleaded the Winkie leader. “What do you wish?” Great, a reward.

“Er, if it’s all right,” I said, “I would like to know your history with the Witch, as well as other past political dealings. In exchange, we shall give you the history of our native dimensions.”

“Hold on!” yelped Hongo. “What are you trying to do?!”

“Megumi, we can’t just open political discussion with people from other dimensions!” shouted Hiroki.

“I have to agree with your brother, my lady!” affirmed Emmanuel.

“But Dorothy didn’t complete her journey!” argued Glinda. “She was kidnapped before she reached the Emerald City! This whole journey was to show how her actions and decisions affect everyone! You must help us get her back!”

+THIS IS INTERFERENCE WITH A DIMENSION’S NATURAL FLOW+ replied my belt, arguing with Glinda. +SUCH AN ACTION IS A…+

“Do we really have a choice at this point?” I asked. My question was directed to everyone. There was silence for a moment. I knew they were trying to figure out a good counterargument before I made my decision final. Time to act now. “Look, I get that there’s a non-interference clause in the multiverse somewhere, but in this time of crisis, we need all the help we can get. With people helping us in their native dimension, we can at least stabilize the mess. Imagine what all dimensions could do if we all assisted each other in a time of crisis.”

“She’s right,” mused Emily.

“Are you out of your tiny little mind, Em?” exclaimed Richard.

“Damage to this dimension has already been done,” said Emily. “We weren’t supposed to kill the Witch, Dorothy was. Even then, it’s by an accident when she puts out the Scarecrow.”

“Good thing I got her i.d tag,” I mused. “We can use her power to our advantage.”

“That power is best in your hands,” agreed the Winkie leader as he rubbed his face. Many more did the same. Apparently, the green skin tone was nothing more than makeup as human skin tones appeared on most of the faces. “Once we have established treaties with the Gillikins, the Munchkins, and the Quadlings, we shall aid you in your cause!” said the leader.

“Munchkins, I’ve heard of,” muttered Richard, “but Gillikins and Quadlings?”

“The Quadlings are my people,” explained Glinda. “My friend, Locasta Tattypoo, is the real Good Witch of the North and rules the native Gillikins.”

“Then why did you rule the North as well?” asked Emily.

“Because Locasta had to deal with her Wicked predecessor, Mombi, again,” Glinda explained. “She asked me to rule the North in her stead while she dealt with Mombi permanently. She’s back in the North while I must return to the South.” She turned to the Winkie leader. “Good Sir Nardo,” she said, calling him by his name, “I would be delighted to help you rebuild the Western Country. It shall shine yellow once again!”

“My thanks, Glinda!” cheered Nardo. “And Vortex Riders, when next we meet, the Western Country shall be in its former glory!”

“I look forward to it,” I affirmed. Then a certain oddity I became used to happened.

“Another rift!” called Wyldstyle.

“Before you go,” announced Glinda, “take these as a reward.” She handed us some small discs of different colors, gold, silver, blue, and purple. “The total should be 125,000 studs.”

“Er, thank you?” I stammered, uncertain of their use.

+EXPLANATIONS WILL BE OFFERED WHEN WE RETURN TO OUR BASE OF OPERATIONS+ explained my belt.

“Batman!” called Gandalf as he pointed to the gateway piece. It was being sucked in!

“On it!” exclaimed Batman. He used his grapple gun to snag the gateway piece and pull it towards us. The portal’s size started fluctuating.

“I believe the rift is becoming unstable!” observed Gandalf. “Shall we take our leave through it?”

“I’m coming with you guys until I find a way home!” called Haruto.

“Where do you think this one leads?” asked Wyldstyle.

“Wherever it is, it’s gotta be better than this garish nightmare!” muttered Batman. “Come on!” We all jumped into the portal and found our vehicles floating there as well. We tumbled towards our new destination.


	7. Chapter 7

As we tumbled through the vortex, the enemy was showing his displeasure for failure. “I GAVE YOU A SIMPLE JOB!” roared Lord Vortech as he swung his staff at Hiro. Hiro flew to the other end of the rapidly finishing fortress of Foundation Prime. As he flew, Vortech’s minions, the Vortexons, featureless humanoids that were made of the same stuff as their master, looked on. “I told you to get the Keystone located in that absurd little dimension and you let a green skinned woman get it! Don’t forget that I can easily destroy you for failure, Hiro!”

“There’s something you’re forgetting, Vortech!” Hiro roared as he charged at his employer and decked him. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be able to get Ichimonji’s typhoon! If I recall, that’s one of the Foundation Elements. If I didn’t discover the Rogue Driver and reverse engineered it to make a transformation belt for my colleagues in Shocker, my native dimension would very well be a null dimension and it would pass your notice!”

“And if I recall, I was the original genius behind the Rogue Driver’s construction!” snarled Vortech. He threw a punch, which Hiro caught. He then raised his staff and was about to bring it down when he felt the barrel of one of the Rogue Driver’s guns at his belly.

“It’s been so long since you built me,” boasted the Rogue Driver, “that you forgot that I know your weakness.”

“I’m not afraid to cheat to win,” exclaimed Hiro. Vortech considered what was said.

“Point…taken,” He lowered his staff and backed off. “Perhaps I overreacted. A Foundation Element is on its way, so a Keystone isn’t a big loss.”

“A wise decision,” praised Hiro as he holstered the gun. A portal opened to deposit Dorothy and her friends in front of the throne that just finished.

“Ah,” mused Vortech. “Good guys?”

“I might be a villain!” called the Scarecrow.

“Ignore him,” hissed the Tin man.

“Thank you, to the left, please,” responded Vortech as he sat on the throne. The Vortexons grabbed the group at their master’s mental command. “Oh, and you won’t be needing those lovely ruby slippers anymore, my dear!” A Vortexon took the slippers off. Dorothy and her friends were place in separate cages near Robin, Frodo, MetalBeard, and our parents.

“Have you got any idea where we are or what’s going on?” asked Robin.

“Sorry,” replied Fred, Richard and Emily’s dad, as he spoke for all our parents.

“A nightmare, maybe?” asked my adopted mom, Haruna.

“Might as well be,” mused Ichimonji as he wore a different belt without a fan inside.

“I know it’s not Kansas,” observed Dorothy. “They took my slippers.”

“They took the One Ring, too,” recalled Frodo.

“And the Kryptonite I was holding,” exclaimed Robin.

“And my treasure chest of ill-gotten booty,” sighed MetalBeard.

“And my belt, the Typhoon,” reported Ichimonji.

“They did not steal anything from us,” observed Sergei, Mikhail and Irina’s dad.

“Maybe we’re not important,” mused Amanda, Fred’s wife.

“My treasure…” moaned MetalBeard.

“Don’t worry, MetalBeard,” assured Robin, “We’ll get it back.” MetalBeard brightened at this. “And then I WILL have to return it to the rightful owners.” The grin faded.

“I’m Frodo Baggins, madam,” said Frodo. “Who are you?”

“Dorothy Gale,” introduced Dorothy. “This is the Scarecrow.”

“Scarecrow?!” yelped Robin.

“Not Jonathan Crane,” assured Angela, Xiomara’s mother.

“Oh,” Robin sighed with relief.

“And this is the Tin Man,” continued Dorothy. “And that’s the Cowardly Lion.” Said talking animal was muttering “I DO believe in spooks!” over and over. While introductions were made, the Vortexon with the slippers approached his master.

“Excellent!” cheered Vortech. “Place them with the other elements.” The Vortexon obeyed. Vortech then used his magic to lift them and place them on their images in the hole in the floor and reactivate the shield over it. He cackled once the job was done.

“Must you cackle?” protested Hiro.

“It’s therapeutic,” explained Vortech. “You should try it.” Another portal opened and released a clown in a purple suit and an old man in white robes and a staff. “Bad guys?” asked Vortech. “Excellent. To the right, please.”

“I am Saruman the White,” protested the man in white. “I am not a ‘bad guy’!”

“Pfft! Please!” scoffed the clown.

“Look!” cried Vortech, putting on a show of fear. “Sauron!”

“My lord!” yelped Hiro, pretending to be scared. “What brought you here?!”

“My lord, Sauron!” exclaimed Saruman as he turned and kneeled. “It is I, your faithful serv…!” All he saw was the fortress’ interior. He realized he was played for a fool as he heard the clown laughing at him.

“If I recall,” mused Hiro, “Sauron is a Dark Lord. Doesn’t that imply evil, Saruman?” Saruman was about to argue but couldn’t get the words out and slumped his shoulders in defeat. “And then there’s you,” said Hiro to the clown. “You call yourself the Clown Prince of Crime. Wouldn’t crime be evil? Not that I complain about your work, Mr. Joker.”

“Well, at least SOMEONE appreciates my work!” cheered the Joker. “Unlike a certain bat in my belfry and his Boy Blunder!”

“I heard that!” called Robin. The Joker pretended not to notice.

“To your right, you say?” quizzed Saruman to Vortech.

“If you don’t mind,” confirmed Vortech. He pointed to the weapons pile on his right. “You’ll find lots of fun weapons and we can offer you some excellent opportunities to use them!”

“Well,” giggled the Joker, “we’d have to be crazy to refuse that offer!” Vortech arched an eyebrow and hmmed in confusion.

“Er, I hate to ask this of a comedian,” winced Hiro, “but can you explain the joke?” The Joker twitched.

“That means we’re in,” he groaned.

“Follow me to the weapons range,” called Hiro. “I’ll get you acquainted with our arsenal.” The two bad guys from different dimensions followed him with the Joker laughing his head off.

* * *

While that was going on, we arrived back at our base of operations. The gateway was still in one piece. “Goodness,” exclaimed Gandalf, “I almost lost my staff that time!”

“Same here,” agreed Wyldstyle, “except with my lunch.”

“Yeah, I almost threw up the apples I had,” muttered Tonje.

“I don’t understand why Fili was so against apples when he got to Lake Town,” said Gandalf.

“Given that he was in a barrel that smelled of apples before he got there,” replied Michael, “I’d have the same reaction if I were in his position.” Batman took out the gateway piece and examined it. It jumped out of his hands and floated in the air.

“Hey, nice job!” called the voice from earlier. “You brought back the Shift Keystone.”

“Keystone?” quizzed Wyldstyle. “What’s a keystone?”

“I’m guessing it’s this,” mused Batman as he pointed to the Gateway piece as it attached itself to the right-most area. Batman’s left hand then floated in the air and glowed purple before a purple gauntlet materialized with the Shift Keystone’s symbol.

+KEYSTONE POWERS ARE NOW IN YOUR POSSESSION+ announced my belt. +GATEWAY 20% STABILIZED+

“Oh, so that’s why they’re called Keystones,” realized Tanisha. “They’re holding the gateway together like a bridge!”

“Hey, Haruto,” announced the voice, “I found your dimension. You can go home whenever you wish.” The gateway opened a portal.

“In that case,” bid Haruto Soma, “I must say farewell.”

“It was an honor to fight alongside you,” praised Hongo.

“Yeah, alongside, instead of against,” Haruto pointed out. “Last time we met, it was you and the other Showa riders against us Heisei riders.”

“And you proved that you’re still worthy of the name Kamen Rider,” praised Hongo. “Farewell, Haruto-san.”

“Farewell, Hongo-san,” called Haruto. “Farewell, everyone.” He jumped into the portal while we all waved goodbye.

“Now,” I quizzed my belt after the portal closed, “what’s the idea with the studs we got from Glinda?”

+THEY ARE MADE OF A VALUABLE METAL CALLED NONEXISTIUM+ explained my belt. +IT IS FOUND IN FOUR COLORS+ +A STUD IS A MEANS OF CURRENCY+ +THE NOW EXHAUSTED BLACK STUDS USED TO HAVE A VALUE OF ONE+ +THE COMMON GOLD STUDS HAVE A VALUE OF TEN+ +SLIGHTLY LESS COMMON SILVER STUDS HAVE A VALUE OF ONE HUNDRED+ +RARE BLUE STUDS HAVE A VALUE OF ONE THOUSAND+ +THE RAREST PURPLE STUDS HAVE A VALUE OF TEN THOUSAND+

“Glinda gave us a cash reward!” exclaimed Emmanuel. I grinned wickedly.

“Money!” I cheered.

“Easy,” called Batman. “What about the gauntlet I got?”

+WHEN CONNECTED TO A SPECIAL TRANSMITTER, THE KEYSTONE GAUNTLET WILL ALLOW YOU TO USE THAT SPECIFIC KEYSTONE POWER+ explained my belt. +CURRENTLY, YOU ARE BONDED TO THE SHIFT KEYSTONE THAT WE HAVE OBTAINED IN DIMENSION W-1-Z-A-R-D-0-F-0-Z+

“So, this thing can give me the power the Witch had when we fought her?” asked Batman.

+AFFIRMATIVE+ confirmed my belt. +HOWEVER, THAT GAUNTLET IS HARDWIRED TO YOUR DNA+

“No one else can use it,” I guessed. “Still, impressive technology. Where did it come from?”

+THIS DIMENSION IS THE TECHNOLOGY’S DIMENSION OF ORIGIN+ boasted my belt, as much as a monotonous voice can give a boasting tone.

“What is this place anyway?” asked Wyldstyle.

+THIS IS ONE OF THE THREE REMAINING FRAGMENTS OF THE MULTIVERSAL PLANET, VORTON+ said my belt.

“Remaining fragments?” asked Richard. “You mean, we’re floating on a dead planet?”

+AFFIRMATIVE+ confirmed my belt.

“Then, how are we breathing?” I asked.

+EMERGENCY POWER KEEPS AN ATMOSPHERIC FIELD AROUND THE FRAGMENTS+ explained my belt. +WITH THE GATEWAY RESTORED AND A KEYSTONE HOLDING IT IN PLACE, THE FIELDS WILL LAST INDEFINITELY+ +FOOD DISPENSERS ARE ALSO FUNCTIONING AS WELL AS THE SHOWER ROOMS+

“Shower!” I exclaimed. “Did you guys hear that? What a wonderful word!”

“I suggest some food and cleaning ourselves of any filth we’ve acquired,” commented Richard. “I haven’t had a decent shower since we left Castle Nerd Skull.”

“An excellent idea!” cheered Emily.

“I agree!” I affirmed. We all departed for the showers and got ourselves cleaned. Our clothes were put in machines marked “Clothes mended and washed while you wait.” Once my shower was finished, I found my dress neatly folded and my tiara sparkling like new in a basket in my changing stall. I got myself dressed and walked out while adjusting my tiara on my head. I met up with the others with clean clothes over at the cafeteria.

“Ye GODS!” exclaimed Michael. “I never felt so clean!”

“I will admit,” mused Batman, “even a hero like me needs a clean uniform.”

“And food is waiting for us!” I called. My belt talked me through how to operate the replicator and soon I was greeted with something from my home country, a comfort food, really, Chazuke, or Ochazuke made with light fish stock poured over rice and topped with things like umeboshi and grilled salmon, my personal preference of toppings. This is one of my favorite rice dishes. Soon, everyone got their meals and we sat down and ate. Those from Japan, Hongo, Hiroki, and I, said “Itadakimasu” (I gratefully receive) before we ate. We all ate our meals and had our drinks in happiness. For just that moment, we didn’t care about a dimensional crisis. Hiroki said his late father would say that if the entire human race got together to eat and drink and be merry, conflict would be nonexistent. I wish I met the man. After we ate, we Japanese said “Gochisosama” (Thank you for the meal) and we all found our bedrooms. We bid each other good night and flew off to Dream Land.

* * *

Back in the Merry Old Land of Oz, in the Witch’s throne room, a Winkie in his old gear and green makeup examined the puddle of green liquid that was once a person. He then took a vial and put a portion of the liquid into it and pricked his finger to let blood drip in the vial. The next step was to put a drop of water into the mixture, cork it, and shake it. He turned to leave when he saw a woman in a black ball gown with a skeletal motif, a black cloak, skull makeup, and black orbs for eyes. She looked at the vial, then back at the Winkie.

“Nardo will not appreciate that,” she whispered. “He needs this freedom.”

“Freedom?” scoffed the Winkie. “We were starving before the Witch came. Many of us would rather have food than freedom. Now, out of my way!”

“Even though you know my power, you still give me orders?” asked the woman. “True, it wasn’t her time, but she will not rule here again.”

“Get out of my way!” snarled the Winkie.

“Try and move me!” hissed the woman. She flicked her wrist and summoned a scythe. The woman then got into a defensive stance. The Winkie charged, with the intent to knock her down. It didn’t go so well as she used the staff part of her scythe to trip him up. The vial flew out of his hands as she spun in a circle with the scythe pointing at the ground. It opened a vortex beneath her. She remained floating above it as if she were on solid ground. The vial tumbled in as the Winkie was thrown into a wall, knocking him out. She took a book from her cloak and skimmed over it until she found what she was looking for. “A pity,” she said. She turned to the unconscious Winkie. “Looks like I’ll be back for you in ten minutes. A stress induced heart attack is a rather painful way to go, but you insisted on working yourself to death. In a way, you chose to be a slave instead of living your life to the fullest. I cannot say where you’ll go. Farewell. Your fate is sealed. Forget you ever met me. A freak portal took that vial out of your hands.”

“My lady, hold for a moment,” called a woman’s voice. The woman in black turned to see a Winkie woman in her natural yellow clothes.

“Widow Netterop,” whispered the woman. She smiled. “Good to see you.”

“So, it’s true?” asked Widow Netterop. “The Witch had secret police?”

“I’m afraid so,” confirmed the woman. “I wish it weren’t true, but she feared rebellion from both the Flying Monkeys and your people. However, it DID make her vulnerable to outside influence, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

“Has the Emerald City been informed about this crisis going across the dimensions?” asked Netterop.

“I spoke with the Wizard of Oz himself,” whispered the woman. “He is preparing accordingly, with the resources available. I would suggest to your brother that he do the same.”

“I’ll tell him at once,” assured Netterop. “Would you like to stay for a while? My daughter is preparing Chicken Soup. She hasn’t seen you in a while, good Lady Death.” The woman, Death, considered.

“I don’t see why not,” she finally decided. “Lead the way. I’ll deal with this man in ten minutes.”

“If you don’t mind my asking,” quizzed Netterop as she led her oldest friend out of the tower, “how will he die?”

“Stress induced heart attack,” whispered Death. Netterop shut the door behind them. The click of the lock woke the Winkie. He had forgotten his encounter and realized the vial was gone. Inside the vortex, the vial cracked and shattered. The mixture then grew into a humanoid shape. It then formed a mouth and a feminine shape. It screamed from pain of the vortex winds reforming her into Elphaba Thropp, the former Wicked Witch of the West.


	8. Chapter 8

Hongo woke up before us. He didn’t have a restful night. Shocker still plagues his mind, even after its defeat. The fact that a man that gave that organization the idea of a transformation belt for its super soldiers was still alive and travelling the dimensions had opened old wounds. He decided to head to the gateway to see Batman working at it. “Trouble sleeping?” he asked. Batman whirled to see Hongo standing there.

“Not really,” replied Batman. “I usually strike at crime during the night. With no crime right now, I’ve been restless.”

“You speak as though there was tragedy in your life,” observed Hongo.

“Well, since everyone aside from Gandalf and you know my backstory,” rasped Batman as he reached for the cowl, “I might as well tell you.” He pulled it back to reveal his face. “My name is Bruce Wayne. I’m the son of Dr. Thomas Wayne, a wealthy man who had inherited a fortune that was built through industry and real estate. When I was a boy, my parents and I were leaving the theater after watching a Zorro movie. We turned into an alley to find a mugger. My parents tried to convince the man not to mug them, but he just killed them after more refusal to give up their valuables quietly. I survived the incident and will freely admit to being traumatized by the whole affair. Afterwards, I fell into a crack near Wayne Manor and discovered a cave full of bats. At first, I used to be terrified of bats. After my butler, Alfred, got me out, I went in again after a few days. I always returned, determined to face my fears until, eventually, a bat flew by my window and I didn’t blink. By that time, I was studying law and learned how corrupted my home of Gotham was. By then, I swore on my parent’s grave to fight injustice wherever it was. I started training my body to prepare for the fight against evil and took the motif of an animal that influenced my life.”

“Thus, becoming Batman?” guessed Hongo.

“Right,” confirmed Bruce. “What about you? Since I told you my backstory, might as well give me yours.”

“It’s only fair,” agreed Hongo. “Although, I was not traumatized as a child like you were. I was practicing for a motorcycle grand prix with a man I called friend, Tōbei Tachibana. During that time, people from the Sacred Hegemony Of Cycle Kindred Evolutionary Realm, the Shocker organization I’ve kept mentioning, had decided I was a perfect test subject for their mutant cyborg super soldier program as I was an athlete with an I.Q. of 600. I was kidnapped, genetically modified to accept grasshopper DNA, and cybernetically altered. I was about to be brainwashed when a professor at the college I attended had managed to cut the power temporarily to allow us to escape. I decided to fight Shocker at every turn as the Kamen Rider. Shocker didn’t like that and so tried again with another person, Hayato Ichimonji. He almost bought into the brainwashing before I interfered. I went on to fight Shocker branches overseas while Ichimonji stayed behind to be the second Kamen Rider. Nowadays, more Kamen Riders protect the planet and they aren’t even cyborgs. They can consider themselves lucky. Like you, my life can never return to normal.”

“My sympathies,” said Bruce.

“I would hate to interrupt the bonding between you two,” I called. They whirled to see me standing there with a smirk on my face.

“Shouldn’t your shoes have made noise?” snapped Bruce as he put the cowl back on and regained his raspy voice.

“Actually,” I replied, “I’ll let you guys in on a little secret.” I lifted my dress high enough to reveal my feet, my BARE feet. “I never wear shoes under this thing.”

“And you were walking around a forest in bare feet?!” yelped Batman.

“I’ve got tough feet,” I assured, “like a Hobbit.” The rest of the gang joined us. “Are we all accounted for?”

“Not quite,” muttered Emmanuel. “Some of us haven’t had our coffee.”

“Oh, yeah,” I realized. “All right, quick breakfast and coffee, then we get another Keystone.”

“Is coffee really important?” asked Hongo. “We need to get that Keystone now!” The air went quiet as we all stared at Hongo. Gandalf wisely kept quiet.

“The longer we wait for you to make sense, Hongo-san,” I threatened, “the longer you keep us from our coffee.” Hongo backed off. “That’s what I thought.” We got our breakfast, bagels and coffee, then we mounted our respective vehicles and got in front of the gateway. “All ready?” I asked. Everyone confirmed their status. I reared my horse back. “CHARGE!” I shouted, leading the charge into the portal. We ran through the vortex, ready to take on whatever dimension was our destination. “Driver, what’s our destination?” I asked my belt.

+DESTINATION IS DIMENSION T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5+ replied my belt.

“Thank you!” I praised. We soon arrived at the other end. I wish I could say nothing exciting happened, but that would be a lie. Something didn’t sit right with where we are, but I couldn’t place what it was. Lukas, on the other hand…

“Er, guys,” gulped Lukas, “where’s the ground?” We all looked down and saw it a couple of miles below us. Gravity then remembered what it does to all objects as we started falling.

“Where are we?!” asked Wyldstyle over the wind.

“And why does everything look…strange?!” quizzed Batman as he could see a town below us. We passed by some letters that spelled something. A choir then sang what the letters spelled.

“The Simpsons!” it said. As each syllable reached our ears, my heart sank lower and lower. The phrase “oh no!” escaped my lips. I won’t lie, I HATE _The Simpsons_ with a passion! Given that I’ve had the misfortune of seeing at least one or two episodes out of its absurdly long run, I can guess what’s happening as we fall.

A boy with a bit of a belly, a spiky hairstyle with hair color matching his mustard yellow skin, Bart Simpson, will be writing lines in detention until the bell rings. He’ll then run out and hop on his skateboard to escape the school.

His dad, a man with a beer gut, the same skin tone as Bart, a permanent five o’ clock shadow, and a bald head, Homer Simpson, will extract a nuclear rod with tongs before the whistle blows and he takes off his hazard suit, during which, the nuclear rod gets stuck to his back.

While that’s going on, the mom, a tall lady with the longest blue beehive hairstyle, Marge Simpson, will be shopping and reading a magazine. The baby girl, a kid with spiky hair and always sucking on her pacifier, Maggie Simpson, shall ride on the checkout conveyor and get scanned and put in a grocery sack. She’ll poke her head out and gives a few sucks on her pacifier.

During which, band practice will be going on and a girl with spiky hair like Maggie, Lisa Simpson, plays a saxophone solo, annoying her band teacher as he silently tells her to get out. She does so, still playing the thing!

Meanwhile, Homer is going to be driving his pink car, get an itch on his back, remove the nuclear rod, and throw it out the car into the street.

At that point, Bart will be busy skating through Springfield…wherever! I heard from Richard’s father, Fred, an avid Simpsons fan since it came out, it’s supposed to be based on Springfield, Oregon, annoying everyone by getting too close, even the police officer on duty.

Meanwhile, Maggie shall be turning the wheel of her car seat with Marge, the pair of them honking the horn.

Homer will then drive up to the garage and open the door while Bart skates over the car, annoying Homer. Lisa will wheel by on her bike, getting too close to Homer, making him say “D’oh!” Then Marge will drive up, going in too fast, scaring Homer into running into the house. The Simpsons will then rush to their couch to watch T.V. Usually, there’s a gag involving that instance.

This time, the gag was that we crashed through the ceiling, scattering the family and getting them out of the house. Batman, Gandalf, Hongo, Wyldstyle, and I landed on the couch while the rest had piled onto the floor. The words “Created by Matt Groening” appeared on the television. The house then shook from the impact, compromising structural integrity, most likely. Gandalf then took the remote, unsure of what it is, pressed the channel button, and went to a channel with a clown, Krusty the Clown, I believe the name was. “Enough T.V!” exclaimed Batman. Thank you! “Let’s figure out why we’re here.” While Gandalf had discovered what the average donut was and munched on it, I tried to turn off the T.V.

“Come on!” I snarled. Nineties T.V’s were apparently beyond me as I couldn’t find the off button. I then resorted to slapping the thing, which, oddly enough, resulted in getting the Krusty i.d tag. I arched an eyebrow at this. “Er, Driver?” I asked.

+THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE+ faltered my belt. +UNABLE TO OFFER EXPLANATION AT THIS TIME+ I blinked, then shrugged.

“Hey, guys!” called Wyldstyle. “My scanner’s found something in the couch!”

“Let’s get it out then!” exclaimed Emmanuel. He flung the cushions off and reached in to grab something, but even his vaunted strength couldn’t get it out. “Er, I know the French can be a proud people, but may I have some help? Monsieur Batman, I believe the two of us can use your grapple gun.”

“Looks like it,” agreed Batman. Emmanuel then struck his Henshin pose.

“Henshin!” he announced as he inserted the i.d tag into the belt. He jumped through the blue circle, donning his Arch suit, and swapped his i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” called the belt. The wardrobe appeared, closed on Arch, formed the new armor, and dissolved, revealing Arch in Batman Steel. Both he and Batman fired their grapple guns and yanked hard. A bunch of metal pieces flew out of the couch. Gandalf used his magic to lift a record player onto speakers, which blasted music before the vibrations shook it apart. Richard tried the back door, but it was blocked from the outside by the debris that had fallen from our landing. Wyldstyle then used her Master Builder powers to construct an elaborate slingshot and aimed it at the window. Using some of the debris as ammo, she fired at a window, shattering it and allowing us passage to the back yard. As we explored the backyard, a portal opened over the sandbox and spat out a strange device before it closed. Batman got a closer looking.

“Interesting,” he muttered. “The markings on this device appear to be the same as on the Shift Keystone. Perhaps they’re linked? Someone’s trying to help us.”

“Batman,” I observed, “I think that’s the Keystone power transmitter my belt talked about last night.”

“Then there’s another piece of the puzzle that’s missing,” quizzed Batman, “how do I use this thing?” Batman then saw instructions on how to use the gauntlet on its view-screen. “Okay then,” he said, allowing a brief smile at his fortune. “Let’s see, ‘Step one: say ‘Shift Keystone, Activate’. Step two: state where you want shift portals. Step three: Say Shift, then target’s name, then the color of the portal target will go through’.”

“I can see something on the roof!” I called.

“I think there’s something in the treehouse,” Lukas pointed out.

“Those pipes could be useful,” mused Emmanuel.

“I think there’s something stuck in the chimney!” called Emily. I craned my neck to look up to see a bit of Keystone stuck inside.

“All right,” muttered Batman, “time for a test run. Shift Keystone, Activate! Cyan, over the treehouse! Yellow, over the roof on my left! Magenta, on the roof to my right!” The portals then appeared in exactly as Batman described. “All right, time for some guinea pigs. Let’s see…” I don’t know why, but he gave me a mischievous grin. “Shift! Megumi! Cyan!” A cyan portal opened beneath me and gave me what I call a reverse Monroe moment. You know that picture of Marilyn Monroe holding down her dress over a vent? This time, the portal tried to suck my dress into it and I had to hold it up. I was sucked in and landed on the treehouse’s roof. I bounced and grabbed the edge. Sadly, that was the catalyst for bringing it down. After it fell, I landed not so gracefully, getting tangled in the skirts of my dress, requesting help, a mess of a time to get myself untangled, and finally giving Batman what for!

“GIVE A GIRL SOME WARNING NEXT TIME, WILL YA?!” I shouted. Batman appeared to pay no heed

“Shift! Hongo! Magenta!” Hongo was caught by surprise as he tried to jump out of the way, but soon ended up sliding down the roof and pulling the pipes down. “Shift! Gandalf! Yellow!” Gandalf tried to steady himself with his staff but was sucked in anyways and ended up on the roof. He pushed the object off and the slid down with Wyldstyle catching him. “All right, now to turn this thing off.” The instructions appeared on the view-screen again. Batman read them, then said “Shift Keystone, Deactivate!” The portals disappeared as we gathered the parts to make a trampoline to get up to the Keystone in the chimney. Batman got there first. It appeared to have a design with three different colored dots in the shape of a triangle. The topmost vertex was blue, the left was yellow, and the right was red with lines connecting them all. Batman was about to grab the new Keystone when a giant black box with red eyes and clawed hands came out of a portal and grabbed it first!

“A Micro-manager?!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“Hey!” snapped Batman to the one that stole the Keystone.

“Batman!” called Hongo as a Micro-manager grabbed him. We were all grabbed and taken to the sky. While we went up, the Micro-managers caused havoc in Springfield. Such examples were shooting one of Homer’s co-workers in the rear, setting fire to Krusty Burger with Krusty the Clown fleeing with his money, but not before putting up a sign saying “Now Flame Grilled”, setting the elementary school on fire, making Bart and his best friend, Milhouse, high five each other, tearing the town hall apart, making the Mayor run into a tree, shooting Chief Wiggum’s car with him being unaware of the chaos going on, and chasing Krusty, causing him to run into Marge and try to woo her, but end up getting tossed into the stratosphere.

“What the heck is going on!” snarled Batman as he tried to escape the grip of the Micro-manager holding him.

“I don’t know!” exclaimed Wyldstyle as a trio of Micro-managers entered a portal.

“If you want my opinion,” called a voice, “I’d say our careers just reached new heights!” Hiro came in on top of a Micro-manager. As we stared, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, not feeling that one either!”

“You put us down, now!” I shouted.

“Are you sure you want that?” asked Hiro.

“You heard her!” shouted Batman as he took out a Batarang. “Put us down!” He threw it at Hiro’s head, then it travelled to hit the hands of our respective Micro-managers. “Here we go again!” called Batman as gravity caught up to us. Hiro regained his balance and saw us fall.

“Oh, no you don’t!” he roared. He took his guns and pointed them at us after he loaded his i.d tag into them. “You won’t get away from me that easily! Henshin!” He fell into the red circle and became Kamen Rider Rogue.

“Rogue’s on our tail!” reported Lukas.

“Then we fight him once we find a decent platform!” I suggested.

“I see a massive Micro-manager!” called Wyldstyle.

“Then that’s where we fight him!” I said as I took out the i.d tag.

“Rider!” announced Hongo as his belt opened.

“HENSHIN!” we all called as we sped towards the giant Micro-manager. SWAT-bots then clambered on top as Hiro caught up to us. When we clashed, there was a massive brawl between us! Between all the punches and kicks, we managed to loosen a panel which raised a computer terminal. Swing pressed a button to broadcast a transmission coming from somewhere to all Micro-managers.

“The Foundation Element has been located,” reported the voice, making Wyldstyle widen her eyes in fear. “It’s in the nuclear power station in the hands of an employee.”

“System compromised,” came the computer voice of the Micro-manager’s computer. “Self-destruct initializing in 3, 2, 1.”

“Self…what?” gulped Gandalf. The Micro-manager exploded.

“Oddly enough, Hiro,” remarked Hiroki, “I don’t think that’s the entire plan!”

“Like I’d tell you!” snapped Hiro as he raised his guns and fired.

“Sengoku’s right,” called Batman as we dodged the shots, “that sounded like only part of the plan! We’ll need to hack more terminals to find out more!” We soon found another giant Micro-manager, you know, let’s call it a Macro-manager, and landed on its roof. More SWAT-bots came out and opened fire once we landed. Our capes morphed into shields as we took up positions, but we couldn’t effectively return fire. The only one who could was Kämpfer with his stylized crossbow. Thank goodness there’s no recoil on it. Arch wanted to fire, but he can’t exactly fire arrows with one hand. The rest of us only had melee weapons.

“Drat, we can’t fire back!” I hissed.

+INCORRECT STATEMENT+ countered my belt. +ALL WEAPONS CAN SWITCH FROM RANGED TO MELEE FORMS+

“What about those that need two hands to fire?!” snapped Arch.

+YOU DO NOT NEED TWO HANDS TO FIRE+ replied my belt. +THERE IS A BUTTON UNDER YOUR RIGHT POINTER FINGER+ Arch blinked under his helmet and looked at the bow. The button was small and red. He pointed the bow at the SWAT-bots and pressed the button. An energy shot pierced the metal of the robot.

“Merci beaucoup!” thanked Arch as he continued to return fire.

“Is there recoil on our weapons’ ranged mode?” I asked.

+NEGATIVE+ replied my belt.

“Then we’re going to have some fun!” I chuckled as I folded my sword into a rifle. We unleashed a volley of laser fire and raised a platform with a green tube with a satellite dish. A Micro-manager grabbed the dish in an attempt to stop our progress, but Batman pulled it down, destroying it and the tube, but a certain Master Builder made another terminal which started broadcasting more of the transmission.

“Do everything it takes to get hold of this employee, one Homer J… Sampson? …Sempson? ...Sim…oh, whatever! JUST GET HIM!”

“That idiot broadcasted the plan to all Micro-managers?!” snapped Rogue.

“Second system compromised,” came the Macro-manager’s A.I. “Self-destruct initializing in T-minus 3, 2, 1. Detonation.” The Macro-manager blew up. A bit of free-fall later and we landed on another Macro-manager. This time, we had to take care of three Micro-managers shooting at us. Hunt then swapped her i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman steel!” announced her belt. Batman Steel came on as she swung a batarang at the Micro-managers, destroying them. The panel was removed by Gandalf’s magic and the terminal raised, but Rogue shot it.

“Not this time!” he snarled. He then took out a ball of some sort. It was blueish gray with a red dot in the center. “I summon you, Turretorg!” He threw the ball onto the floor where it melted, then grew, then formed an ugly shape. It was vaguely humanoid, had fur everywhere, had gun turrets on its shoulders and head, gun barrels for hands, cannons coming out of the mouth, and a gun on each knee.

“Turretorg, awaiting orders, sir!” said the monster.

“Slay those dolts!” ordered Rogue.

“I pledge obedience!” saluted Turretorg. He…she…it turned on us and unleashed a volley of fire. We took cover where we could.

“Another computer terminal must be inside,” called Wyldstyle. “If we can get in…”

“How do you propose we do that?!” I snapped. “We’re under heavy fire, in case you forgot!”

“But the grapple guns can reach pretty long,” remarked Wyldstyle.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” I asked, exasperated.

“My scanner found two grapple hooks on either side of this thing’s roof,” explained Wyldstyle. She pointed them out to me. “We just need someone with Batman Steel.”

“Hunt!” I called, getting Hunt’s attention. “Tell Batman to fire a grapple gun at one of those hooks over there!”

“Got it!” she confirmed. She told Batman of the plan. Batman and Hunt then fired their grapple guns and pulled a couple of pylons out of the Macro-manager. The rear swung out and a green light glowed on Batman’s Keystone Gauntlet.

“What’s the green light for?” he asked.

+KEYSTONE TRANSMITTER IN VICINITY+ replied my belt.

“Clear a path for me!” called Batman. “I need to see where to place the portals!”

“Everyone, give Batman cover fire!” I shouted. We managed to separate Rogue and Turretorg and keep their attention on us while Batman got the lay of the land. The interior was set up in two levels, the lower of which had an electric dome over a terminal. The rear door had platforms underneath pipes that begged to be disconnected.

“Shift Keystone, Activate!” announced Batman. “Cyan, over rear most platform! Yellow, on roof of Macro-manager! Magenta, near electric dome!” The portals appeared. Gandalf had jumped inside the Macro-manager to undo a pipe on the door. It weakened the electro-dome around the terminal. Gandalf got an idea.

“Batman!” shouted Gandalf. “Get me into the Cyan portal!”

“What?!” yelped Batman.

“Trust me!” assured Gandalf. Batman shrugged but complied.

“Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” This time, Gandalf was ready. He allowed himself to be sucked in and ended up on the farthest platform on the door. He then used his magic to undo two more pipes. The electro-dome disappeared and Batman decided to try something. “Shift! All in vicinity! Magenta!” he commanded. Everyone got sucked into the magenta portal. And when I say “everybody”, I mean everybody. Perhaps Batman should have specified his targets. Everyone tumbled into the second level of the Macro-manager. It became a firefight between us and Rogue and the monster. We surrounded the terminal as I switched it on.

“Once we have the artefact, we move back,” came the transmission. “Utilize the Asset and his secret weapon if there’s any resistance.”

“Hm,” mused Batman. “There may be trouble ahead.”

“Proximity alert,” came the computer. “Emergency Landing incoming. Raise in altitude suggested.” Batman continued looking at the terminal.

“This says that we’re heading towards Springfield Nuclear Power Plant,” he reported. The Macro-manager started shaking.

“And that, I assume,” I gulped, “was our brakes?”

“Yep,” replied Batman.

“Master, we must fall back!” called Turretorg.

“No!” snarled Rogue. “We give our lives to eliminating them!”

“This is a suicide mission!” argued Turretorg. “There’s no honor in this! We must retreat so we can claim the Foundation Element more quickly!” Rogue considered this.

“You’ve successfully swayed me,” he sighed. He opened a portal. “We’ll regroup in the main building. Fall back!”

“I pledge obedience!” saluted Turretorg as it followed him into the portal. Meanwhile we tried to control our ride, but to no avail.

“Guys, if we don’t make it out,” I called, “it was an honor serving with you!”

“The pleasure’s all ours, my lady!” replied Guard. We crashed into the main building.


	9. Chapter 9

Homer was asleep at his post, the nuclear rod in his butt. He tossed and turned. “It’s not selling out!” he yelped. “It’s co-branding! Co-branding!” I’m surprised he slept through the crash. In any case, we picked ourselves up out of the wreckage.

“What do you suppose these infernal contraptions want here?” asked Gandalf as he brushed himself off.

“And why are there rivers of glowing green ooze flowing all around this place?” quizzed Hongo, a little worried.

“I wouldn’t worry,” assured Richard. “This thing gets reactor leaks all the time and the radiation doesn’t bother the residents.”

“They’re probably used to it!” I yelped. “We, on the other hand, aren’t!”

+THIS UNIT WOULD RECOMMEND WEARING YOUR ARMOR IF YOU’RE SO CONCERNED+ suggested my belt.

“Good idea!” I agreed. “But what about Gandalf, Wyldstyle, and Batman?”

“Never mind us,” assured Batman as we said Henshin and put our suits on. “If we don’t go anywhere near anything radioactive, we should be good. Wyldstyle, your scanner.”

“There’s something at the other end of the plant,” reported Wyldstyle, “maybe the Keystone?”

“Let’s check it out,” called Batman. We went across a catwalk to a locked room with a dial that clearly wasn’t set to keep the steam from leaking. Homer had finally woken up and was apparently informed of the steam leaks somehow. The intercom was still on, so we heard what he was saying.

“What do I do?!” he wailed. “What do I do?!” He even had the instructions in his hands! Even then, he just fiddled with random controls! After a few button presses, he looked back at the book. “All right, brain,” he encouraged said organ, “it’s all up to you!” He read aloud, “check core temperature.” I figured that there was no way he’d screw that up. Too much to hope for. He fiddled with more controls and then went to a black button. “I just press this button…” in reality, no, he shouldn’t have. That button made the steam pipes burst, causing the bridge over a vat of nuclear waste to collapse, and eliciting a “D’oh!” from Homer.

“I get the feeling this guy isn’t quite up to speed on nuclear safety,” muttered Wyldstyle. She then saw some parts. “Hey, Swing, Claw, help me out!”

“If you’re sure,” shrugged Claw. They swapped out their i.d tags for the Wyldstyle one. Once Wyldstyle Steel was activated, they started building a claw that was rolled up with a grapple hook. Batman pulled it with the grapple gun, switching it on and sending a Keystone Transmitter near us from the waste.

“That helps,” called Batman. “Shift Keystone, Activate! Cyan, near the wall outside the window! Yellow, inside top level! Magenta, inside bottom level! Shift! Ichigō! Magenta! Shift! Royal! Yellow!” Ichigō and I went to our respective places. The steam from the pipes in my area blocked my progress. Batman told Ichigō to turn the valve in his area. He did so, thus lowering the pressure so the steam won’t block my path. I then signed to Batman asking if I should go and pull the lever at the end of my area. He gave me the thumbs up and so I pulled the lever. It drained away some of the waste so it could reveal the remains of the bridge. “Shift! Ichigō! Cyan! Shift! Royal! Cyan!” We came out through the cyan portal. Thank goodness. We crossed the bridge, with Arch, Lukas, and I carrying Batman, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle, much to Batman’s annoyance, and saw a guy in a green business suit with an extended upper lip, liver spots on top of his head, and a scheming look to his eyes, and named, I believe, Mr. Burns, take down the zero on the billboard that indicated the days without an accident. It went from zero…to…three?! This whole thing isn’t an accident?!

“Um, excuse me?! Hello?! Thank you?!” yelped Touché. She only says that when something that defies logic happens or when someone says something incredibly dumb. Mr. Burns then turned the billboard that indicated the…days without an otherworldly invasion?! Apparently, it was three hundred twenty-three days without such an occurrence before this one. Mr. Burns changed it to zero, sighed while shaking his head, and walked out slowly. Meanwhile, we were running on a conveyor belt with a bunch of barrels coming out and almost squashing us. We managed to get to the other side when we heard Homer speak.

“Vent radioactive gas? N-O,” he said to himself.

“Homer,” I shrieked internally as I saw people in hazmat suits trying to escape, “anata wa bakada!” (you are an idiot!)

“Homer, you genius!” praised Homer to himself.

“Why is this guy in charge of safety?!” asked Wyldstyle. “He couldn’t cross the road!”

“We need to get across to save those people,” I resolved. The main problem with that was that there were massive covered vents in our way. We could easily reach the first vent, but the second and last were too tall for us to reach, well, maybe not Ichigō, but the rest of us aren’t…wait a minute, that’s it! “Wyldstyle!” I shouted. “Wall jump up there! I think the controls to make this easier are over there!”

“What?” yelped Wyldstyle.

“Just trust me!” I assured. Wyldstyle shrugged as she did as I requested. She found the controls and pulled a lever down. Some steam raised the cover of a vent at different intervals. She got the idea and pulled the other levers. There wasn’t an exact pattern to when the platforms raised, but that was unimportant. Clash then leapt up and landed on a vent cover when it went down. She was then lifted by the steam and raised to another platform. After a few jumps, she gave the thumbs up that our weight would be supported if we went one at a time. I wish she didn’t do that. She’s too valuable to me. We all made it to the other side and heard Homer speak.

“This is my chance to show everyone how professional I am!” he cheered. He then ran around his seat, smashed his fists on the buttons, then banged his head once, then went to sleep! Those actions resulted in a power generator holding door locks to malfunction and release the door latch. Barrels then came out of the door and onto a conveyor belt. They were then put right-side up and put under squashers. Thankfully, that wasn’t our problem at the moment. We had to get the people trapped in the gas out. Ichigō and I punched the glass, got our hands, and opened it from the other side. The people got out as we got something to block the door. Once that was done, we realized our only path was through the squashers. The controls were inside a locked room. Batman’s gauntlet light started glowing green. We looked all around until Gandalf lit up a room in total darkness in a lower level. We brought the transmitter into the light, giving Batman his Keystone Powers.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Magenta, on white panel inside room! Cyan, on scaffolding! Yellow, on the raised platform!”

“Oh yes?” asked Battle. “You’re just going to put the portal on a white panel?”

“Yes,” confirmed Batman.

“On a lower level panel?” quizzed Battle.

“Yes,” replied Batman.

“And people are supposed to reach the controls that way?” asked Battle.

“Yes,” sighed Batman, annoyed.

“…How?” asked Battle. Batman opened his mouth when he realized he was too eager to place portals.

“Batman, you may need me on the scaffolding,” said Gandalf. “The way I see things, there are two components that relate to the door over there. It seems locked for the person that goes in the magenta portal. However, if I were to undo the power that holds the door and transfer to the yellow portal, thus putting me on the platform, I can push something down to Madam Wyldstyle and she can build something to get that panel at a higher elevation.”

“Good idea,” I praised. “Batman, if you please?”

“Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” announced Batman. Gandalf ended up on the scaffolding, undid the components, unlocking the door for the room and shutting the door that was spewing barrels under the crusher. He was then transferred to the yellow portal and shoved a crate off. Wyldstyle used the parts to build a giant joystick. Battle had changed into Gandalf steel and used magic to move the panel to the upper level. “Shift! Ichigō Gandalf! Wyldstyle! Outback! Hunt! Claw! Swing! Clash! Climb! Gallop! Sengoku! Royal! Guard! Touché! Zhànshì! Arch! Kämpfer! Seeker! Battle! Batman! Magenta!” called Batman, trying a different approach. Tedious, yes, but it worked. We went through the portal and walked along the conveyor belt to end up in front of a hallway with a security camera. I saw the door controls and figured I’d just waltz up and use them. My arrogance proved me wrong as the door controls locked at the sight of me. I turned on my heel and walked back.

“Any suggestions?” I asked, open to ideas.

“Allow me,” replied Batman. He then pulled his cape in front of his face and started going transparent. He went down the hall, fiddled with the controls and deactivated the camera and door locks. That door led to an area filled with toxic waste and a bunch of Micro-managers trying to yank something out of the wall, their boss, I assume, given that it spoke. He was a man in a gray business suit, had an elaborate red and black headdress with a red coffee cup on each side, a chest plate in black with shoulder pads and a red tie in the middle, a long red cape, and black boots with red light up sections that alter his height according to his whims. Judging by the look on Wyldstyle’s face, I’d say it was a certain business lord she’s been on the run from in the past.

“So,” asked the man, “what I’m saying is, why didn’t you just cut a bigger hole?!”

“Just wasn’t in the budget,” joked Rogue’s voice. The business lord didn’t appreciate the joke as Rogue walked in, laughing at the man’s predicament. The business man was the pulled out by the Micro-managers and set upright.

“Lord Business!” hissed Wyldstyle.

“Wyldstyle?” exclaimed Lord Business. “It WAS you meddling!”

“This is impossible!” snapped Wyldstyle. “You were about to graduate from the Master Builder Academy! Why are you up to your old tricks?!”

“Hey, I’d love to catch up,” replied Lord Business, “but I have to grab something and then destroy you and your friends. Mmkay? Mmkay.”

“Short, and to the point,” praised Rogue. “I like that. How about an assist for you? The element’s up there in that man’s hands!” He pointed to Homer who was looking on from an observation window.

“Get the element!” Lord Business ordered his Micro-managers. One of them chased Homer throughout the facility.

“Ow! Hoo-hoo! Ow, my thingies!” screamed Homer. He was then brought into the room in the Micro-manager’s grip. He screamed for a bit, then realized he had a drumstick in his hand, the edible kind, chomped on it, then saw Lord Business and Rogue. “I’m not normally a praying man,” wailed Homer as the Micro-manager threw the drumstick into the ooze, dissolving the meat and leaving the bone, “but if you’re up there, please save me, Superman!” Batman visibly winced at this. Homer then got the wrong idea about Rogue and Lord Business. “Oh my gosh, space aliens! Don’t eat me! I have a wife and kids! Eat them!” He was then taken away.

“Right,” chuckled Lord Business, “that’s the grabbing done. Now, what was the other thing?” A wicked grin appeared on his face.

“You’re going nowhere with this plan!” I snarled.

“And who’s going to stop us, you?” asked Rogue.

“Well, it was nice of you guys to drop by,” said Lord Business, “but Rogue and I don’t have time to play. We’re a little busy.” Batman studied the area.

“Those toxic waste pumps look useful,” he mused, “IF we can get to them.”

“HIT THE DECK!” shouted Guard. As we ducked, a red laser beam swept over us, destroying a gold apparatus, revealing parts that Wyldstyle picked up with Master Builder vision. The laser beam terminated automatically, making Lord Business growl in frustration.

“Look,” he hissed, “this is a new gun, okay! It needs a little time to recharge, so my goons will distract you, all right?”

“Don’t tell them the plan!” snapped Rogue. He summoned Turretorg again.

“There you are!” snarled the monster as it fired on us. We had to dodge its weapons as it fired. Another gold apparatus was destroyed as we dodged shrapnel.

“Do you mind!” shouted Rogue. He swept the area with another laser, destroying the last gold apparatus. “Well, I can safely be called an idiot,” muttered Rogue.

“Darn right!” agreed Wyldstyle as she built a pump, pulled the lever, and spewed toxic waste at Lord Business. After he fell into the pool of the stuff, he got back up, destroyed the pump, and sent parts of the ceiling down on our heads! It destroyed the platform we were on, so we had to use the ceiling panels to stay out of the toxic waste. Lord Business got the gun working again, but we dodged the laser until it ran out of juice again. He grunted in frustration at this.

“Why are you so difficult?!” snarled Lord Business. “Just stay still and let me get you already!” As more of the SWAT-bots came back, Zhànshì activated Wyldstyle Steel, rebuilt the pump, and pumped more toxic waste onto Lord Business. He destroyed the thing again, but Batman saw a Keystone transmitter in the vicinity.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Cyan, on upper left platform! Yellow, on upper middle platform! Magenta, on upper right platform!”

“Really?” asked Lord Business. “It’s like you’re just asking me to attack you in lots of different and interesting ways!”

“If I may use the Cyan portal, please?” I asked Batman.

“Shift! Cyan! Royal!” announced Batman. I went into the portal and got to a control panel for a toxic waste pump.

“Let’s see,” I mused as I looked over the controls. My eyes stopped at a lever. It asked if I wanted to activate the pump. “Y-E-S,” I exclaimed as I pulled the lever. Green ooze spilled onto Lord Business. The flow automatically cut itself off.

“Do you mind?” protested Lord Business. “This is a new suit!”

“I see waste pump controls at the magenta portal!” called Guard.

“Shift! Guard! Magenta!” announced Batman. Guard was transported to the waste pump controls and pressed a button to activate it. More green ooze spilled onto Lord Business.

“We all know that toxic waste gives you awesome super powers,” called Turretorg as it plunged its hand into the stuff, “so you just keep on trying that. Thanks!”

“What are you doing?!” shouted Rogue. At that moment, Turretorg started glowing green. Sickeningly yellow claws appeared on its hands. Its eyes started glowing yellow as well.

“Now, I am Turretoxorg!” announced the new monster. His bullets were like acid as it started melting the metal of the walls!

“Shift! Arch! Yellow!” Arch was sent through the yellow portal, activated Batman Steel, and used the grapple gun to pull the end of a waste pump towards him. It unblocked the flow of waste as it spilled onto Lord Business. He managed to get away from the stuff and switched a walkie-talkie on.

“Tell him ‘It’s showtime!’” he ordered to his forces. Meanwhile, a Micro-manager was chasing Homer as he escaped its grip. He was climbing the walls, swimming in the waste, and hiding among us in funny glasses. He was then caught by a Micro-manager as he gripped the pipes while the black box tugged at his pants, trying to get the nuclear rod stuck in them. It managed to remove the pants and send the rod flying everywhere. It bounced on the Micro-manager and towards Gandalf who used his staff as a bat and hit the rod…right into Rogue’s hands.

“Look at that!” he gloated. “Right into my hand!” Homer was distracted in the meantime.

“Hey! Get your own pants!” shouted the head of the Simpson household before he covered his crotch and shuffled off in embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s been great seeing you catch up with your old friend Lord Business, Madam Wyldstyle,” called Rogue, “but I have somewhere less exploding to be.”

“What about me?” asked Lord Business.

“What about you?” asked Rogue as he took out a remote and pressed a button. Something sparked on the back of Lord Business’ neck. He then looked around the place and saw Wyldstyle.

“Oh, hey, Wyldstyle!” he said pleasantly. “What are you doing here? Er…where IS here, exactly?”

“Don’t even try to play dumb here!” snapped Guard.

“He’s not,” replied Rogue. He held up the remote he had used earlier. “I had originally suggested to my Shocker buddies that they use a mind control chip in your cybernetics, Hongo, but they felt the usual brainwashing methods were still valid.”

“Hey, you said you came to me with a business deal!” protested Lord Business.

“And look where that latent greed got you,” chuckled Turretoxorg. It turned to a Micro-manager. “You know what to do.” Rogue took that as his cue to leave while the Micro-manager advanced menacingly towards us. Turretoxorg made a swipe with its claws as the Micro-manager grabbed a batarang and grabbed the panel we were on. We tried to steady ourselves as Turretoxorg tried to shift the weight around. The Micro-manager took us all up to an ornate office with a model of Springfield inside. Judging by the statues, I’d say that it was Mr. Burns’ office. Gandalf straightened his hat as we looked around. Turretoxorg just looked at us.

“Aren’t you going to fight us?” I asked.

“Now how selfish do you think I am?” quizzed Turretoxorg. I shrugged, and then resigned myself to looking around. I clapped eyes on a strange machine with a Keystone on top. It seemed to have a cone on each end and had a design with a red square, a blue L-shape on the left, and a yellow reverse L-shape on the right. I saw three switches and tried very hard to resist the temptation to touch them. I failed miserably as I turned the machine on. The machine then generated three portals that seemed to suspend a paint blob each, one red, one yellow, and one blue.

“Okay, what’s the power of this Keystone?” I asked to myself. My belt apparently doesn’t pick up on rhetorical questions.

+THE KEYSTONE IS CALLED THE…+

“Okay, thank you,” I interrupted. “I’ll get an explanation later.” A cackle rang through the office.

“Oh no, not him!” moaned Batman.

“Roll up!” announced the voice. “Roll up and witness the hysterically hilarious, the riotously ridiculous, the marvelously mirthful…” a certain clown Batman knew too well slid on his knees on the desk. “…me!” He caught sight of the Dark Knight. “Well, if it isn’t my old pal, Batsy!”

“Joker!” hissed Batman.

“Ding-ding-ding!” replied the Joker. “One point to the Dork Knight!” He let out a laugh. “But, can you tell me what THIS is?” He started looking at a pocket watch as Batman glared at the Joker. Sengoku turned to Turretoxorg.

“I ain’t telling!’ it exclaimed. The pocket watch started ringing as the Joker made a buzzing noise

“Too late!” sniggered the Clown Prince of Crime. “My experts say it’s a power unit! So, let’s see if it’s got enough juice to wake up an old friend of yours, Bat-brain!” The room started trembling. “Ooo hoo hoo! I think it does!” said the Joker.

“Joker, what are you doing?!” rasped Batman.

“Is there a reason behind the Joker’s actions?!” asked Seeker. The Joker blew a kiss at us, then jumped out the window!

“While he’s getting Batman’s old friend prepped,” called Turretoxorg, “how about I summon some of yours, Hongo-san?” It pulled out a radio from a concealed pouch in its chest. “Come forth, Combatmen!” A bunch of men in black uniforms with a skeletal motif and a silver belt buckle with the symbol of an eagle holding Earth came out of the woodwork, literally! They came out of the walls and drew their machete like swords, surrounding us! They kept saying “Yee!” for some odd reason.

“Shocker!” exclaimed Ichigō.

“Let me guess, these are Shocker’s grunts,” theorized Touché.

“Yep,” confirmed Sengoku. “They prefer to attack en masse. You can guess their max strength from there.” The building started shaking again. This time, a giant metallic flower on the lapel of some robot passed by to reveal a mammoth sized metal version of the Joker’s face.

“Oh, not this again!” groaned Batman. “Duck!” A giant, green, four fingered hand grabbed the power unit and attached to the back of the robot the head was attached to. The Joker Robot then lifted the ceiling and a good chunk of the walls, which I believed to be impressive since the right arm was a massive cannon.

“Ready for round two?!” asked the Joker.

“More than ready,” hissed Batman.

“No catchphrases?” asked Turretoxorg.

“Oh, catchphrases?” called the Joker. “Let me hear them!”

“As you wish,” obliged Outback. “Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“I am Gandalf the Gray! I shall weave a spell of defeat over you!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! And I am not a DJ!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“…That was long,” observed Turretoxorg. The robot then grabbed an I-beam and swung it at us. We got out of the way, but barely, what with the Shocker Combatmen something into the air. They turned out to be giant wind up teeth with the Joker’s goons and some strange beings made up of space. They were featureless and had no way to discern their gender. My belt started warbling in an alarming manner.

+VORTEXONS DETECTED!+ it warned.

“Oh, look!” cheered the Joker. “Everyone has come out to see me! Little old me! Too bad there’s no Keystone transmitter for you!”

“You want to bet, clown?!” snarled Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, on the cannon! Yellow, on top of the head! Magenta, on the left arm!”

“Hey, where did they come from?!” called Turretoxorg. It looked around and saw a transmitter near the cannon. “The enemy’s getting aid! Destroy the transmitter!”

“You guys protect the transmitter!” directed Batman. “The Joker’s mine! Hitting him will interrupt his sequence and do some damage, but he’s too far away unless that thing stays online!”

“Just try and hit me, Bratman!” boasted the Joker. “Chroma! Yellow! Joker!” The Joker then jumped into the yellow paint blob on the left arm and was covered in yellow paint.

“Shift! Batman! Magenta!” commanded Batman. He appeared in front of the Joker and attacked him, but the Joker seemed to laugh it off.

“Ah, the wonders of a Keystone!” cheered the Joker. “This baby has given me a very powerful shield, making me immune to enemy attacks!”

“Enemy attacks, eh?” mused Batman. “Shift! Shocker Minion! Magenta!” The Shocker Minion he was referring to was trying to make a flying chop with that blade of his before the magenta portal caught him.

“Yee!” he yelped before he appeared on the Joker Robot’s left arm. Batman used him as a club and made the Joker revert back to his, er, “normal” self.

“Hey!” protested the Joker. “Now that’s not very nice!”

“Yee! Yee!” said the Shocker minion as he smacked the Joker. The Joker threw him off, causing the poor mook to crack his skull when he hit the floor. He died on impact. A couple of Shocker minions saw this and started attacking the Joker’s goons. The Joker, in the meantime, had left a bomb that just spat out a flag that said “BOOM!” on it.

“Simple fix!” chuckled Batman as he rebuilt it to actually explode. Once he got clear, the bomb went off and destroyed the shoulder armor of the robot.

“That’s it!” declared Wyldstyle. “He’s weakening!” A Vortexon tried to jump her, but she kicked it into a Shocker minion’s backside. Soon, the Shocker minions were trying to get rid of the Vortexons and the Joker’s goons.

“WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING!” shouted Turretoxorg. It was then hit with eyebeams that came out of the Joker Robot’s optics, reverting it back to Turretorg. “WHAT’S THE IDEA!” it roared to the Joker.

“Don’t forget to go out with a smile!” called the Joker. More of his goons appeared. “Nice of you to come out and play!” praised their boss. This time, he saw the chaos with the minions. “HEY! CUT THAT OUT!” he shouted. “Chroma! Blue! Joker!” This time, he took a blue coloration.

“Shift! Batman! Turretorg! Cyan!” called Batman. Turretorg was taken by surprise.

“HELP!” it shouted as it was sucked in. Once they were on the cannon arm, Batman started taunting the Joker.

“Of all the unfunny jokes you’ve made, Joker, this has to be the worst!” taunted the Dark Knight. “How is this demonstrating that chaos is eternal? All I see is your ultimate defeat!”

“That’s it,” whispered Turretorg, “keep talking!” It swung a punch to the rear of Batman’s head, but the Dark Knight ducked, allowing the punch to hit the Joker, making him lose his color again.

“Will you just PLAY NICE!” shouted the Joker as he set another bomb. This time, Batman had a little trouble reconfiguring it to actually explode as Turretorg laid down suppressing fire.

“Shift! Kämpfer! Cyan!” called Batman. Kämpfer jumped in and took care of the bomb. It blew up, damaging the cannon arm’s armor. The robot the shot its eyebeams at us again.

“You know something,” hissed the Joker, “having a gun obsessed mole like you help me obtain the Keystone was bad comedy!”

“MOLE?!” roared Turretorg. “YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE, YOU COURT JESTER! I’LL BLOW A HOLE INTO YOUR STOMACH FOR THIS! VORTEXONS, SLAY THEM!” The Vortexons started overpowering Shocker and the Joker’s goons. “As for you,” it continued saying to the Joker, “it’s time for me to take control of this show!”

“It’s not a show without the Joker! That’s me by the way,” called the Joker. The flower on the robot’s lapel started spewing purple goo. I didn’t know what it was, but it felt toxic to me.

“This metal giant appears to have a strange contraption attached to it!” observed Gandalf as he attacked his foes with Glamdring. He was referring to something that had escaped my notice! It was next to the Keystone power unit and seemed to be patterned like a circuit board!

“I think that’s the robot’s brain!” I declared.

“Oops!” said the Joker. “Forgot to patch that! Chroma! Joker! Red!” He landed on the head to protect the brain.

“Not this time, clown!” called Batman. “Shift! Batman! Vortexon! Yellow!” Batman grabbed a Vortexon and jumped in, swinging the poor creature on the Joker. The Joker had lost his shield and set one last bomb. The Vortexon tried to keep Batman at bay but failed as he reconfigured it to explode. The brain was destroyed as the robot went to a standstill to expose the belly.

“Claw! Hunt!” exclaimed Ichigō. “With me!” They jumped into the air. “RIDER KICK!”

“RIDER CLAW KICK!”

“RIDER HUNT KICK!” The robot wobbled from the impact. It then proceeded to fall on its face! We got out of the way quickly. The minions of the enemy, not as lucky. The Joker popped out of the bloody wreckage with the Keystone in hand.

“Ooh, this looks valuable!” he cheered.

“MORON!” roared Turretorg as it punched the Joker. Batman was about to grab the Keystone, but the Joker brought out his tommy-gun. Batman backed off. The Joker got out his walkie-talkie.

“Hi,” he said, “I’m going to need a taxi from the roof of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant!”

“Add me to the list of passengers as well!” called Turretorg. A portal opened for the Joker and Turretorg.

“Oh, never mind,” laughed the Joker. “One’s here. Be seeing you around, Bat…” As he picked up the Keystone, Gandalf whacked the Joker with his staff and tripped up both the clown and Turretorg, making them fly into the vortex.

“I’ll be taking that, thank you!” snapped the grey wizard as he grabbed the Keystone. A portal opened for us. “Shall we?” asked Gandalf. I pressed the vehicle summon button to get Shadowfax, the Batmobile, the Cyclone, Wyldstyle’s bike, and the F.N.S’s horses. All riders then powered down and adopted our human forms.

“After you, good Sir Gandalf,” I said as I mounted my horse. Lord Business had caught up to us. He had apparently built himself a decontamination room and then converted it to a car. He explained that Shocker had kidnapped him after he was fooled by Hiro’s idea of a business negotiation and planted the mind-control chip on him when he was still in Octan Tower after getting his graduation invite. After accepting his request to join us until he could get home, we all boarded our vehicles and Gandalf led the charge out of Springfield. Thank goodness. I was going to enjoy a nice long bath to wash my entire body of this whole affair! I didn’t want to stay in Springfield a minute longer!


	10. Chapter 10

Once he and Turretorg were retrieved, the Joker spoke to Lord Vortech back on Foundation Prime as he had an ice pack on his head. “And then they stole this shiny thing I found!” he reported.

“Chance meetings and setbacks to your petty pilfering do not concern me,” dismissed Vortech. He pulled out the nuclear rod. “We have the Foundation Element, that is all that matters.”

“Trust me,” warned the Joker, “if you underestimate the Crêped Crusader, you’ll end up getting battered!”

“Like yourself?” snickered Hiro. The Joker growled. Hiro poured himself a glass of wine. “A toast, to a successful mission,” praised Hiro.

“Maybe the rest of us would celebrate,” snarled an angry, male voice, “if we didn’t suffer!” A Japanese man strode up in a black suit with black armor, a gold eagle for a belt buckle, a black cape with a green interior, a gold right hand and left pincer claw, and an elaborate gold and black headdress covering the head aside from the face, making him look like a pharaoh of Egypt, and gold moth antennae on top. He carried a red whip and was flanked by Shocker Combatmen. This was the current leader of Shocker, Ambassador Hell. “Just look at what they’ve done to us!” snarled Ambassador Hell.

“Spare us the melodramatics, Ambassador Hell,” Vortech waved off. “Hiro’s right about the mission being a success.”

“This isn’t about success or failure of a mission!” protested Ambassador Hell. “The Vortexons and the Joker’s minions are creating dissension among the ranks of Shocker! These savages are a threat to this whole operation! They should be confined, restrained even!” He was punched in the face by Turretorg.

“You could not produce a restraint strong enough to hold us Vortexons!” it boasted. It turned to Hiro and Vortech. “In any case, my lords, Comms-Op is receiving a call from Dimension K-A-M-3-N-R-1-D-3-R.

“What is their reason for calling us?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“How did they even get this dimension?!” asked Vortech as he handed the nuclear rod to a Vortexon.

“Unclear, Lord Vortech,” reported Turretorg. “All we can glean is that the caller will only speak to Hiro.”

“Me?” yelped Hiro.

“They requested you by name, my lord,” confirmed Turretorg.

“Patch it here,” ordered Hiro.

“I pledge obedience,” saluted Turretorg. It fiddled with a machine which made a giant view-screen come out of the floor.

“This is Hiro Adachi, Kamen Rider Rogue,” demanded Hiro. “State your business or face destruction.”

“Hiro-san, now really,” purred a feminine voice, “is that any way to address your lover?” A Japanese woman appeared on the screen. She wore a white lab coat with a red arm band on the left arm, a woman’s business suit, with pants, short, black hair, and was flanked by Shocker Combatmen. These had the skeletal motif made in raised silver and had armor on the suits.

“Igura!” cheered Hiro as a smile appeared on his face. “I heard from Ambassador Hell that you were dead!”

“I was,” confirmed Igura, “but I had some help in coming back. Sadly, Urga and Buffal weren’t so lucky.” She heard a snicker and saw Ambassador Hell with a look of amusement on his face. “I’m glad to see that my allies’ permanent death causes amusement for you,” hissed Igura.

“Oh, you misjudge me,” countered Ambassador Hell as he sobered up. “I shall miss them deeply. They were worthy adversaries. In any case, why are you calling?”

“Can you get the person creating portals to send one to my base?” asked Igura.

“Of course, my dear,” obliged Vortech. “Bring your minions as well.”

“Thank you,” said a grateful Igura as she bowed. The transmission ended as a portal opened to let the last remnant of Shocker Nova onto Foundation Prime. Igura broke into a sprint and gave Hiro a hug which he reciprocated. Ambassador Hell rolled his eyes.

“Is that jealousy I detect, Ambassador?” mused Hiro.

“Hiro,” purred Igura, “my men need access to your database. Could we use it?” She gave a sweet smile.

“Absolutely not, traitor!” hissed Ambassador Hell. Igura and Hiro rolled their eyes as they broke their embrace and glared at Ambassador Hell. “That database is for Shocker use only! Traitors like you…”

“What our old boss, Damon, meant, Igura-chan,” interrupted Hiro, “is that our entire database is open to Shocker Nova. Feel free to use it at your leisure, my sweet eagle.” He kissed Igura’s hand.

“Flatterer,” complimented Igura as she walked off to a terminal with a smile on her face.

“Surely, you don’t mean that?!” protested Ambassador Hell. “How did you even know my real name?!”

“That’s unimportant,” dismissed Hiro. “What IS important is that I was most sincere when Igura could use our entire database at her leisure.”

“It builds trust, you see,” supplied Vortech.

“They don’t need to know every single detail about our military operations!” protested Ambassador Hell.

“The decision has already been made,” shrugged Vortech. “In fact, I’ve seen how effective the Nova Combatmen have proven, so from now on, whatever decision you make about Shocker must be submitted to Igura for approval and, if approved, she will submit it to me either in person or through Hiro.”

“That will NOT happen!” declared Ambassador Hell. The tension could be cut with a knife. Vortech then used his powers to lift Ambassador Hell into the air and throw him into the wall. Hiro then walked over to the Shocker Leader.

“I trust that was an unguarded emotional comment,” he whispered, “so I will convince Vortech to ignore it THIS time. Make plans to do exactly as you’re told or I will have you move for practice six feet underground!” Hiro stormed off to help Igura with access to the database while Ambassador Hell looked onwards. “Now,” said Hiro to the Joker as he moved towards the terminal, “where’s the robot? I had it modified to use the Keystone for your use.”

“And a keystone is…?” ventured the Joker.

“Purple shield thing?” explained Hiro, hoping the Joker would catch on.

“Oh, the shiny thing Batman took!” exclaimed the Joker with a grin.

“Wait a sec,” gulped Hiro as his smile turned into a warning one, “is that what really happened, or a joke?”

“That’s what happened,” explained the Joker, unaware of the now dangerous position he was in.

“What a terrible joke,” whispered Hiro.

“I told you, it wasn’t a…” the Joker was interrupted.

“You allowed the Vortex Riders to take the Chroma Keystone?!” snarled Hiro. “DO YOU HAVE ANY NOTION OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR BLUNDER?!”

“Wait a sec,” yelped the Joker, “we have the Foundation Element. I don’t see why…”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT SOME TRINKET!” roared Hiro. “My daughter and her little band have a color activated Keystone, meaning any and all Chroma-locks are under their control!”

“Daughter?” quizzed Igura. Hiro slightly relaxed.

“How about I tell you what happened in my absence from Shocker,” he offered as he turned and led Igura away.

* * *

Meanwhile, we had arrived back on Vorton. Lord Business massaged his rear. “That could have gone a little more smoothly,” he said. A portal opened back to his home dimension. “I believe that’s my ride,” said Lord Business. “Well, it’s been fun, but I have some reconstruction to do. Oh, before I go,” he handed us a bag of studs, “I believe the total should be 160,000 studs. Bye bye!” He stepped into the portal and it disappeared

“There it is, the Chroma Keystone!” exclaimed the voice. “Now we’re talking!”

“Let’s see what this one can do,” mused Batman. “Chroma Keystone, activate!”

“Incorrect Keystone request,” reported Batman’s gauntlet.

“What?!” snapped Batman.

“I guess you can only use the Shift Keystone,” I guessed.

“Then who’s using the Chroma Keystone?” asked Emily as the Keystone attached itself above the Shift Keystone.

+GATEWAY 40% STABILIZED+ reported my belt. +MINIMAL SECURITY MEASURES ONLINE+

“We won’t be blindsided then,” sighed Emily in relief.

+ALERT+ called my belt. +UNKNOWN PRESENCE DETECTED IN CAFETERIA+

“You were saying?!” I hissed as I drew my sword. We all flew down to the cafeteria. The doors were closed. “On three, we swarm the place,” I directed, “Ichi! Ni! SAN!” We burst in and spread out to give ourselves cover. What we saw just…wasn’t possible! There, holding a small glass of water, in all of her green skinned- black wearing, pointy hatted glory, was the Wicked Witch of the West! She saw us and gave a smirk.

“Red alert,” she joked. She then drank the contents of the glass! My eyes widened. Surprisingly, she wasn’t dissolving and squawking “Oh, what a world! What a world!” As she finished, she licked her lips and sighed. “You know,” she mused, “long before I was a Wicked Witch, I used to drink this religiously. I missed that part of my past. Of course, that was negligible as I had better things to do than try and find a cure to my old water allergy, like conquering Oz.”

“Up to your old tricks?” asked Emily.

“I haven’t the vaguest notion of doing so at this point in time, Rosie” dismissed the Witch, making a reference to Emily’s dress, “considering that there’s something greater going on. I need to destroy it before it destroys me. But, that’s rather hard for me to do. I no longer have any magic! I was hoping to go into business with your wizard.”

“My dear lady,” protested Gandalf, “you gave us magic folk a bad name! Couldn’t you have toned the wickedness down a tad?”

“I don’t know,” purred the Witch, “I found good to be dumb.” She then saw my expression. “You don’t believe me. Do you really think I would humiliate myself like this?”

“When it serves,” replied Emily.

“It’s the truth!” insisted the Witch. “What you see before you is a defrocked Elphaba Thropp, condemned to live out her days as a normal person!”

“The question of whether or not you have magic is irrelevant,” I dismissed. “The question of your return to life, however, I would like answered.”

“As would I,” replied Elphaba. “Last time I saw you, I was melting away in my observatory. The next thing I knew, I woke up, screaming in the dimensional vortex. After that, I ended up here. That’s all I know.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Your compassion,” explained Elphaba. Need I describe how I felt about that? “All right,” Elphaba tried again, “sanctuary on Vorton, dreary as it is for all parties concerned.”

“Get on that broomstick of yours and get out!” I demanded.

“I have no powers!” protested Elphaba. “You look upon Elphaba Thropp, the ordinary!”

“Elphaba the Tyrant!” I argued. “Elphaba the Conqueror!”

“Elphaba the Miserable!” Elphaba argued back. “Elphaba the Desperate! What must I do to convince you?!”

“Take a swim,” suggested Batman.

“Oh, very clever, you poor excuse of a winged monkey,” snarked Elphaba. “Eat any good books lately?”

“For the last time, I’m a bat!” snarled Batman. “Not a dog! Not a brat! And I’m CERTAINLY not one of your Flying Monkeys!”

“You wish for compassion? Sanctuary?” I asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Elphaba.

“Hongo-san, Duke Emmanuel, Dame Emily,” I directed, “have the computer help put Elphaba in the brig.” A grin crossed Emily’s face.

“Delighted, Your Highness,” she chuckled.

“You can’t do this to me!” protested Elphaba. Emily then grabbed her by the shoulder, digging her nails into it.

“You will walk,” ordered Emily as a blue path lit up for her, “or I will carry you.” Emmanuel was holding the door open while Hongo directed them to leave with is hand and a smile.

“…Given the option,” mused Elphaba, “I’ll walk.” With Emily’s hand still firmly on Elphaba’s shoulder, the group was led to the brig. Emily picked out the cell and led the boys back up to the cafeteria. We decided to have lunch while we pondered our options.

“If she can drink water,” guessed Irina, “splashing her in the night won’t do the trick.”

“I hate to pander to a stereotype of a manner-driven culture like most Southern states,” replied Richard, “but I fail to see the honor in killing her.”

“I fail to see the honor in letting her live,” argued Lukas. “She has proven unrepentant.”

“Her comments have demonstrated that fact,” I granted, “but Mom always said that mercy is the greatest weapon of all time.”

“She usually follows up with a warning to the effect of mercy being misused!” argued Hiroki.

“When it comes to killing,” I countered. “If we kill her, who are we being merciful to?”

“The multiverse,” replied Xiomara.

“Too vague,” countered Batman.

“I’m not exactly wild about her coming back,” agreed Wyldstyle, “but there are other ways to deal with her.”

“If she stays,” argued Michael, “we’ll probably have two messes to contend with instead of just one.”

“I say we listen to Megumi,” suggested Gandalf.

“You cannot be serious!” protested Hiroki.

“If we kill her when she didn’t make any threatening moves against us or the multiverse,” explained Gandalf, “we would prove ourselves as low as the enemy.”

“You’ve killed people before!” argued Hiroki. Probably not the brightest thing to say.

“I gave them a chance to back off before I attacked,” hissed Gandalf with a hint of anger. “I never kill unless it’s the last resort!”

“Someone, talk some sense into him!” cried Hiroki.

“He speaks sense,” argued Mikhail. “There is no need to kill Elphaba.”

“Really?!” snapped Irina. “My younger brother decides to let a known threat live?!”

“She has made no move to attack us,” countered Mikhail. “I say we observe her. If she makes a move against us, all bets are off and she dies. If not, she may prove valuable.”

“Her magic is impressive,” observed Tanisha. “I agree with Mikhail.”

“As do I,” called Emily as she, Hongo, and Emmanuel reentered the cafeteria. “She had given us valuable info on operations in Oz. Once she helped us, she could only do a simple levitation spell. Her story on once being powerless checks out.”

“And you three are just taking her word for it?!” yelped Haitao.

“Of course not,” replied Emmanuel. “Lie detectors line the cells in the brig. It proves useful for interrogation.”

“And on a side note, her compliment on my and Emmanuel's dresses proved sincere,” supplied Emily.

“Much as I want to rehabilitate her,” argued Richard, “we’ll need more proof than a compliment on your clothes!”

“Then she stays alive so we get that proof,” I said with a tone of finality.

“Nee-san, please!” protested Hiroki.

“Your princess has made her decision!” I declared. “Killing Elphaba in any way, shape, or form is out! Am I clear?” Silence permeated the room. “Good.” I said. “Now, let’s get our meals. Bring one to Elphaba.”

“I’ll bring it to her,” volunteered Emily. Elphaba’s meal was a chicken breast with broccoli. As we ate, Emily eating with our prisoner, the debate ran through my mind. Throughout the journey, I was hellbent on killing Hiro. Looking back, that might be an escape for REAL justice for him and his allies. I started mulling over options on keeping him confined for life. Hongo’s right, killing someone should always be a last resort. We then finished our meals, took our showers, and then headed for bed.

* * *

Back in the Simpsons world, Death had arrived at a house. She knocked on the door to reveal a girl in stereotypical goth clothing. “Pardon me,” whispered Death, “may I have a moment of your time, Ms. Lacey?”

“Sure,” agreed the girl, Lacey. Death was let in. “What are you doing here? Business as usual? Am I your client?”

“Hardly,” replied Death. “I’ve been away on a long journey and saw something…peculiar.”

“It’s that sword you gave Mom,” guessed Lacey. “That stupid looking thing that you told her never to touch.”

“Your mother’s ‘stupid’ sword?” asked Death as she sat down. “The one that feels ‘wrong’ to you?” She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”

“Give you the sword?” quizzed Lacey.

“For a moment only,” whispered Death. Lacey got the sword down from the mantelpiece. It was a broadsword in a black scabbard with a silver handle and guard. “Can you see any markings on it?” asked Death.

“No,” answered Lacey. “Kind of plain, if you ask me.”

“How about now?” asked Death as she casually tossed the sword into the fire. Lacey gasped and rushed towards it only to be held back by her visitor. “Wait!” hissed Death. “Do you desire it so much?”

“…N…no!” stammered Lacey. “But why burn it?!”

“Because I had unwittingly given your mother a fragment of the enemy’s power!” explained Death as her whispering voice went up a fragment. “It will corrupt and destroy any who have it until he or she passes under the enemy’s power. Named after the enemy’s desire for a perfect world, this was called the Foundation Saber!”

“That isn’t how Mom kept her appointment with you, is it?!” gulped Lacey, getting frantic.

“No, she is still safe from the enemy,” assured Death, “but you are in danger!” Death then picked up the sword from the fire. Much like the One Ring, the sword was unharmed. Death tossed it to Lacey, who instinctively caught it. She was surprised at the temperature. “Reveal part of the blade,” instructed Death. Lacey blinked, but obeyed. Instead of metal, the blade seemed to be made of solid space.

“It was metal before, I swear it!” declared Lacey.

“Oh no, this is the Foundation Saber’s natural state,” whispered Death as she took the sword back. “Stay here. I must take it and seek out War, the one who was duped into making this thing.”

“Be safe,” called Lacey. Death left the house with the sword, mounted her white horse, and charged off into a portal of her own design.


	11. Chapter 11

I had tossed and turned in the real world. In the dream I was having, I was trying to explain myself. The corpses of my friends and family said that I had made a mistake in letting Hiro live. “No!” I said. “He had to live! Don’t you understand?!”

“You allowed him to kill us!” accused Hongo’s corpse

“You never killed him when you had the chance!” accused Gandalf’s corpse.

“You had numerous chances!” said Batman’s corpse.

“My own sister failed to protect the multiverse!” said Hiroki’s body.

“There is no hope now!” said Richard’s body. “It’s all thanks to you!” In a swift movement, his hand grabbed my face. I could feel myself decomposing slowly and deliberately. “You will join us as the restless dead!”

“NOO!” I screamed. I woke up before the decay could reach my jaw. Someone burst in at my outburst! I grabbed my sword and pointed it at the intruder.

“My dear young lady,” exclaimed the intruder, “put that thing down! I am not the enemy!” The shape then became recognizable. I smoothed out my nightdress as I lowered my sword.

“Gandalf, I must apologize,” I managed to get out between my gasps. I had managed to steady my breathing.

“I can see that something haunts your dreams,” observed Gandalf. No use in hiding my distress from a wizard. I sat down on my bed and recounted the dream. “I must admit,” gulped Gandalf, “I’m amazed my dead body would ever say that to you.”

“Gandalf, did I make a mistake?” I asked.

“In what way?” pondered the Istari.

“Letting Hiro live,” I elaborated. “In the long run, it may prove a pity that I allowed him to continue.”

“Pity?” quizzed Gandalf. “It was pity that influenced your decision. Unless, of course, my eyes deceive me.”

“No. maybe not,” I replied. “But what will that mean in the long run?”

“Perhaps he may be rehabilitated,” mused Gandalf. The thing is, his words echoed what was in my heart. I had always hoped Hiro could repent before his end.

“This whole business has me in a fluster, and I’m not used to flustering,” I sighed. “Lately, I’ve had moments where I wish I had never heard of this nonsense!”

“So do all who live to see such times,” replied Gandalf kindly, “but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” I smiled.

“You said that to Frodo in the Mines,” I recalled. I had calmed down at that point. “Thank you.”

“For what?” asked Gandalf, pretending not to know what he had done for me.

“Helping me settle my mind,” I explained. “I’m going back to sleep.”

“Of course,” said Gandalf as he headed to my door. “Good night.”

“‘Night,” I mumbled. I drifted back to sleep. My dreams were much more pleasant as I stood against Hiro. He was taken to some unknown court. My friends and I had testified against him. No one spoke on his behalf. While his lawyer was fierce, Hiro was found guilty and sentenced to live alone in a prison of unknown design. I woke up later, stretching and rubbing my eyes. I then went into the usual routine of getting into my dress.

  * First, floof the skirts.
  * Second, step into the skirts.
  * Third, pull on the strings at the sides to close the skirts around my waist.
  * Fourth, get on my knees and smooth my dress to give it the full circular shape.
  * Fifth, lean forward, then back, then left, and then right.
  * Sixth, get up and pull the shirt part over my head.
  * Seventh, after getting my hair free from the neck, tilt my head into each sleeve.
  * Eight, slide the panniers over my head until they cover the strings at my waist.
  * Nine, twirl five times to let my skirts fly.
  * Ten, put the tiara on and curtsey to my reflection.



Call me superstitious, but I always do this routine to bring me luck. I stepped out of the room to see everyone assembled in the cafeteria. After several good mornings, a grunt substituted Batman’s good morning, we got our breakfast. I had requested that Emily retrieve Elphaba so she could join us. Emily went to the brig and got the former Wicked Witch. Elphaba saw some glares. “How hospitable,” she snarked.

“Elphaba Thropp,” I began, “given the atrocities you’ve committed against the Winkies and Flying Monkeys, we had a debate on whether or not you should live.”

“What?!” yelped Elphaba.

“However,” I continued, “as leader, I had decided against your second death.”

“Very generous,” chuckled Elphaba with a relieved smile.

“Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness,” I snapped. “You have a long way to go before we consider you a teammate. Given that there are no replicators in your dimension, I assume you had help last night when you had a meal.”

“That would be me,” explained the mysterious voice.

“Work closely with the voice to figure out this mess,” I directed.

“I’ll do what I can,” obliged Elphaba.

“Good,” I nodded. “In the meantime, the Vortex Riders and I are off to find another Keystone. Speaking of which, who’s in control of the Chroma Keystone?”

“That would be me,” called Wyldstyle as she held up her gauntlet. She put it on her left hand. “In a bizarre form of behavior for me, I’ve read through the instructions.”

“Won’t hurt in this case,” I said. “Everyone, mount your steeds!” We had gotten on our respective vehicles and got ready to charge through the portal again. Elphaba was talked through manual operations.

“Good to go!” she called. “Your destination is dimension N-1-N-J-A-G-0!”

“CHARGE!” I shouted We charged into the portal.

The location in that dimension happened to be a gladiatorial arena. An afro wearing guitar dude in 60’s disco clothes was trying to get away from a guy in punk clothing and a glowing purple sword. He turned to the man in the box, who sported a large snake skull on his head with a long purple fake spikey snake around it, a mustache and goatee, thick eyebrows, sideburns, and hair, all black, and dark red robes with gold and black markings. Apparently, he’s from the _Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu_ line Lego had set up. From what Haitao told us, the guy in the box is called Master Chen, a villain of the series. He had given the order to the punk man to finish the guitar man. As the punk man was about to lay the finishing blow on the guitar man, we fell on top in a tangled mess. Once we disentangled, we looked around. “Now where are we?” asked Wyldstyle. Another portal had opened, depositing a Japanese man. He wore feminine clothes and makeup and sported a muscular build, but unlike Emmanuel, he preferred pants. He dusted himself off with the wrap covering his bald head and looked around.

“An arena?” asked the man in a slight French accent. He smiled. “Well, my horoscope said I would find intrigue in new places and an arena will certainly develop such intrigue.”

“Oren Pierre Alfonzo!” cheered Hiroki.

“Who?” I asked.

“He’s one of the secondary riders in _Kamen Rider Gaim_ ,” explained Hiroki. “That fruit themed Kamen Rider show I mentioned.”

“I met those riders,” supplied Hongo, “though we didn’t make the best first impression.” He was interrupted by Chen’s laughing.

“What a delightful surprise!” he said in a thick Japanese accent. “More competitors for my tournament of elements!” We all looked at each other.

“I’d say it’s time for a show!” called Oren.

“Did you arrange this, Klaus?” asked Chen to his aide. Klaus shook his head. “No matter,” assured Chen. “I sense great power in them. Power that will soon be mine.”

“You may try,” called Emmanuel, “and you will fail.”

“Oren-san,” quizzed Hongo, “do you have your belt on you?”

“Sadly, no, it was destroyed,” sighed Oren.

“What’s that in your pocket?” asked Hiroki. Oren arched an eyebrow, then reached into his pocket to reveal a device in a similar shape to ours but lacked the blue circle and had a knife at a diagonal on the right with a faceplate on the left. The faceplate looked almost like a gladiator’s helmet facing the knife. He blinked in surprise, then smiled.

“Well now,” he chuckled as he put it to his waist. A yellow belt strap appeared and fastened the device to his waist. “And just to finish things off,” said Oren as he pulled a silver padlock out with a durian on it. For those who don’t know, a durian is a green, spikey fruit that has a very strong smell, a horribly strong smell. “Shall we entertain the masses?” asked Oren as he held the lock up.

“Do we look like gladiators to you?!” I quizzed.

“Come on!” protested Emmanuel as he got out his i.d tag. “Where’s your entertainer’s spirit?”

“But, we shall require an opponent,” called Oren. He pointed to Chen. “Monsieur, could you provide us with one?”

“As you wish,” chuckled Chen. He turned to a guy in a jogging suit about to eat a hot dog. “You! Bring our guests…up to speed!”

“Yes. Master Chen,” confirmed the jogger. Did I say jogger? I meant runner with speed that would give a certain video game mascot pause! I had a feeling Chen would be making puns during our stay. The runner circled us a few times before ringing a gong.

“Master Griffin Turner, element of speed, you’re up,” called Chen. “Let’s see how our new contenders fare!”

“Permettez-moi,” said Oren. He then looked at his lock. “Hen…shin.” After he said that, he sharply turned his head to Master Turner and opened the lock.

“DURIAN!” announced the lock as a ring of light around the durian symbol flashed on each syllable. After that happened, a zipper opened a circle above him, letting a large, metal durian with a large spike on each side float above Oren. He put the lock onto the belt and closed it. “Lock on!” called the lock. At that point, a guitar riff started looping. Oren threw his hands above his head, crossed them, then stepped back, putting his left hand down while his right went across his front. As he pulled the hand back, it pulled the knife down, revealing the inside of a durian and a spikey sword. The metal durian landed on his shoulders, covering his head and forming a neon green suit with purple highlights. The durian split into armor pieces. The top part with the two big spikes became shoulder armor. The front part went down to reveal a silver t shape on the other side, becoming the chest unit. The back simply swung down. The helmet had a spike on either side. The eyes evoked the interior flesh of a durian with the rim of the left eye having a crack. He had a Red Roman Crest running from the top of his head to the nape of his neck. As it unfolded, Oren stepped forward, opening his hands to allow a large, spiky, green sword to appear in each hand. “DURIAN ARMS!” announced the lock on the belt. “MISTER DANGEROUS!” A starting bell rang five times with a simulated applause giving a cheer.

“And thus, Kamen Rider Bravo appears!” cheered Hiroki. While the transformation for Bravo was going on, Turner was running around us.

“What is this, some kind of bonus round?” he quizzed. “No sweat. No one can match my speed!”

“Are you sure?” I asked. I lifted my skirts up and stuck out my leg. Turner moved to attack, but he didn’t see the leg that tripped him. The audience didn’t like that, so someone threw something at us. The impact revealed a blue disc. Wyldstyle’s gauntlet buzzed.

“Keep it up, guys!” encouraged Wyldstyle. Turner ran a few more laps and then charged at Wyldstyle who simply put her fist out, allowing his face to collide with it. He got back up as another object flew at Wyldstyle. She dodged, leaving the object to reveal a yellow disc. Another three laps and Bravo sidestepped, letting Turner trip over his feet. An object was hurled from the crowd once again as it revealed a red disc. Gandalf had managed to find something in the lake in the center. It was a snake statue holding a picture of something in its mouth. The picture was the same as the markings on Keystone device the Joker used to power that robot, a circle with two L-shapes facing each other. Unlike the Keystone device, however, all the shapes were in yellow. The snake had a Keystone power transmitter on it with markings from both the Shift and Chroma Keystones, so Wyldstyle decided to put her powers to the test. “Chroma Keystone, activate!” she said. The circles let a blob of paint come out of each other and hover in the air. “Chroma! Yellow! Wyldstyle!” She jumped into the yellow paint and was covered in the stuff. She then showed her left palm to the picture. “Chroma Lock, reveal!” she said. White lines formed to make the same shapes as the painting. She then jumped first into the right L-shape, then the left L-shape, and finally the circle. As she jumped on each shape, the shapes on the picture held by the statue glowed yellow. Colored beams of red, yellow, and blue light destroyed the picture. The fragments then grew and changed, collecting at a single point to become a panel that can rotate while being pushed. It connected to the snake statue via gears. As the paint slid off Wyldstyle’s body, leaving no trace of its existence behind on her, she pushed the panel to make the statue raise up until it could be raised no more. Apparently, it was in the ground so low because it was so top heavy. It fell to the ground and shattered. The only intact thing was the pillar it was built around.

“Let me have a turn,” called Xiomara as she drew her i.d tag. “Henshin!” She turned into Kamen Rider Seeker once again, surprising Bravo once she revealed herself. She then swapped her i.d tag for the Wyldstyle one.

“Wyldstyle Steel!” announced her belt as the wardrobe changed her armor. She managed to see parts and construct a treadmill with the pillar being the main roller part and the snake head being the control panel. Turner ran onto it.

“Whoa!” he yelped. “Who put that there?” The treadmill went faster and faster. “I can’t stop! Wait, I’m so fast, I can outrun this thing! Ha ha! Sure, I can!” He went faster, but his speech indicated he was getting tired. The treadmill started sparking. “I…can…run…*gasp*…no…getting…tired…noo!” He was then thrown into a wall as the treadmill exploded. Chen seemed enraged by this.

“Only ONE can remain!” he declared. He pressed a button on his chair which released a trap door, depositing Turner into the pit below. “Very creative, though,” admitted Chen. “Shall we say… ‘best of three’?” A man in a moustache-goatee, a maroon turban with a gold stud on the front, a maroon robe, and dark brown pants floated towards us. “Master Gravis,” said Chen, “element of gravity. He’ll turn your world upside-down!” Gravis used his powers to lift three stone platforms and turn the ones on his sides to be running vertically instead of horizontally while being suspended in the air. Batman checked his keystone gauntlet. Thankfully, the transmitter didn’t fall back in when the statue fell apart, so Batman could still use his powers.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Cyan, on the platform to my left! Yellow, on the platform in the middle! Magenta, on the platform to my right!” The portals appeared as Gravis hurled rocks at us as he stood in front of the Cyan portal. “Let’s see,” said Batman as he looked at Bravo. “Shift! Bravo! Cyan!” Bravo was taken by surprise as he was sucked in.

“Help!” he yelped. He appeared behind Gravis and whacked him on the back of the head. That made Gravis lose concentration on that platform, so it crumbled. Gravis floated to the right most platform.

“Shift! Bravo! Magenta!” directed Batman. Bravo, with a better understanding of Batman’s plan, jumped into the portal and reappeared behind Gravis. He swung his swords at Gravis as the master of gravity hurled rocks at him. Sadly, Gravis lost, making him lose concentration on the platform, allowing it to crumble. He floated to the middle platform. “Shift! Bravo! Yellow!” Bravo landed on the last remaining platform.

“Lifetime of Master Chen noodles to the winner!” announced Chen.

“Voila!” called Bravo to Gravis. He brought the knife on his belt down once. The lock glowed.

“DURIAN SQUASH!” announced the lock. A wave of light started forming on the crest of Bravo’s helmet. He swung his head, making the light knock Gravis silly. He fell to the ground, along with the platform. This time, Chen was intrigued.

“Most interesting and entertaining!” he cheered as he jumped in his seat. “Guard,” he ordered as he pressed the trapdoor button on his chair, “bring me more popcorn!” Gravis tumbled into the pit below as some of Chen’s cronies came into the ring. I noticed that an image appeared dirty, an image like the one’s the Chroma Keystone uses.

“Guys,” I called, “help me brush this off! Wyldstyle, is the Chroma Keystone still going?”

“No, sorry,” sighed Wyldstyle. “It switched off when I built that treadmill for Master Turner. On top of that, the circle faded away.”

“I see a new yellow circle in the mouth of that snake over the door,” observed Gandalf. He opened the snake’s mouth and got it down. Wyldstyle’s pocket started buzzing.

“Let me help!” called Seeker, still in Wyldstyle Steel. She pulled out another relic detector and found something that a batarang could knock down. “Batman! Michael! Help me out!”

“On it!” confirmed Michael. “Henshin!” After he formed the suit, he swapped the i.d tag for the Batman one along with Seeker.

“Batman Steel!” called the belts. The three had tossed their batarangs and knocked down a blue circle. Wyldstyle and Hongo had jumped up and used their combined weight to bring down the red circle from the side of the door. I had fully brushed the image off to reveal two yellow L-shapes and a red circle.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. The circles suspended their respective paint blobs at her command. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The design appeared again in glowing lines of white. “Bravo, do you mind painting yourself red?”

“Not at all,” assured Bravo.

“Chroma! Red! Bravo!” announced Wyldstyle. Bravo jumped into the red paint blob and then jumped into the circle. “Chroma! Yellow! Richard! Richard jumped into the yellow paint, then jumped into each L-shape. The red, blue, and yellow streams of light hit the picture, destroying it, allowing something to burst through. It appeared to be a crane with the main body done up like a snake head. It was apparently alive as it roared and snapped at us. It was restrained by the door’s red frame. That’s when a man in black armor, a black helmet, a full beard, and large metal gauntlets in the shape of fists came into the pit.

“Now,” purred Chen, “for your final foe: Master Karlof, element of metal! Now’s your chance to prove your…well…METTLE!” That was awful!

“Ha!” laughed Karlof in a thick Russian accent, thicker than Mikhail’s father. “Is no problem for Karlof! Karlof crush you!”

“Okay, if we can drop the stupid fake Russian accent!” called Mikhail. “My accent is better anyways!”

“Nyet! Mine is!” argued Irina.

“We have the same accent!” protested Mikhail.

“Mine’s softer, therefore more enjoyable!” argued Irina.

“Are you kidding?!” countered Mikhail. “It needs to be hard, to show a Russian’s strength!”

“Can we save it?!” I snapped. Wyldstyle looked at the snake crane.

“Ooh, when master builds go wrong,” she commented. She got an idea. “Guys, aim for the arch Karlof’s on!”

“On it!” confirmed Bravo. He moved the knife on his belt down twice.

“DURIAN AU LAIT!” announced the lock. Bravo then swung his swords, throwing giant, energy based durians at the arch.

“Un! Deux! Trois!” called Bravo as he swung three times. It destroyed the arch, releasing the snake crane…er…wrecking ball. The ball on the machine dropped, insert ball-dropping joke here, which gave Wyldstyle room to use the remains of the arch to her advantage. Once they turned into Lego bricks, she made a magnet out of them.

“Metal Power!” boasted Karlof as he turned his entire body into silver metal. Gandalf had lifted the new magnet onto the cable the wrecking ball was on. Batman and Lukas got to the new snake electro-magnet’s controls and raised the magnet into the air. We taunted Karlof to come near the magnet, which worked well. Batman pressed the button and turned it on. Karlof was caught in the magnetic field, so he powered down his metal skin, but his gauntlets were still metal, so he was lifted off the ground.

“You…you…you cheated!” shouted Chen.

“Er, WE cheated?!” quizzed Bravo, indicating Karlof’s prison and taking off the durian lock.

“Lock off,” announced the lock as the suit and armor disappeared and revealed Oren Pierre Alfonzo.

“Nobody cheats in my tournament, NOBODY!” shrieked Chen as he slammed his fist on the trapdoor button. A trapdoor opened near us. No one fell through this time. Chen pressed another button, letting on of his guards in his box fall through. Another one dropped another guard. He kept pressing buttons and dropping guards. As that was going on, Wyldstyle started reading a newspaper, Batman looked at his batarang, considering upgrading it, Gandalf ate an apple and tossed it into a trapdoor that opened near him, and Hiroki and Oren explained what the concept behind the lock was. Apparently it’s called a Lockseed. It’s made by holding a fruit from an extradimensional forest called Helheim when you wear the belt Oren used, the Sengoku Driver. It has three finishing moves. Squash is used mainly to perform a fruit themed Rider Kick or charges up the armor, or Arms, to use an attack. Au Lait is mainly an Arms weapon attack, a stronger version of Squash. Last, but not least, the Sparking finisher gives the rider full finisher potential or folds the Arms into its fruit, seed, nut, or berry form to boost the defense of the Rider. Oren admitted that he never unlocked the Sparking function of the Durian Lockseed. The organic fruit version of the Lockseeds, the Helheim fruit, can change a person if eaten on its own. The person turns into a mindless monster called an Inves, which eats Helheim fruits and go after Lockseed users. There are two main types of Lockseeds, the silver Lockseeds that someone like Oren uses, and the clear blue Energy Lockseeds, used in a different belt called the Genesis Driver. Oren was about to talk about his past when a portal opened to deposit a giant mech suit with a bald man driving the thing. The suit was green and had purple trim. The pilot turned to Chen.

“The staff!” he demanded. “Hand it over!” Chen looked at the rather gaudy staff in his possession.

“No!” he snapped. “No more surprise guests!” He used the staff to cast a fireball at the mech, which the pilot just laughed off. “Uh oh! Everyone! Stop him!” ordered Chen. As the guards charged the mech, Chen waved goodbye as his seat went down into the pits below. The mech pilot grit his teeth and crashed through a door, flinging many of Chen’s cronies off. Batman recognized the pilot.

“Whatever Lex Luthor wants with that staff,” deduced the Dark Knight, “it won’t be good. Come on!” We followed Batman up to Chen’s box and followed Chen down the rabbit hole he and his chair made.


	12. Chapter 12

We had landed in the pits below. I got a bit of a snake-like labyrinth vibe down below. I felt something beneath me. “All right, who’s under my dress this time?” I muttered, a little annoyed that this happened twice. I counted noses. In all honesty, I wish it was one of my friends, but they were all accounted for. “Then, who…?” I gulped, a little worried. I got up and moved forward. I turned, slowly, and saw that I was sitting on the skeletal remains of one of the previous tenants of those pits! I shrieked in horror and leapt into Richard’s arms. We both tumbled down, with me on top of him. He wrapped his arms around me. “Er, Richard, what are you doing?” I asked.

“Forgive me, my lady,” replied Richard in a teasing tone, “but for a lady to topple her rescuer is hardly proper. Thus, I must hold you here until you apologize.” I arched an eyebrow.

“You’ve been waiting for a chance to do this ever since I did the same on Vorton, haven’t you?” I guessed.

“Maybe,” said Richard coyly. I sighed. Since he was using my own trick against me, I may as well follow through.

“Good Sir Knight,” I murmured, “your princess would like to apologize for making you fall (despite it being beyond our control). Can you forgive me?” He released me. “Just wait until you leap into my arms!” I warned.

“If we get out of here,” muttered Lukas.

“We will,” I assured him. “We just need to find Chen.” The person we were looking for laughed after I said that. We looked around but couldn’t see him. There were four paths branching off in a square pattern from the room we were in, all obscured by greenish smoke.

“You’ll never find me!” boasted Chen’s voice. “No one has ever gotten through my maze of tunnels! You’ll rot down here! Forever running in circles, never knowing where to turn!” He finished with a laugh.

“Well, that’s disconcerting,” gulped Sheela.

“Come on,” called Wyldstyle, “I can see the way forward.”

“How?!” I said incredulously.

“See these panels?” asked Wyldstyle. I saw the panels and recognized the shapes!

“I get it!” I realized. “We use them as a compass!” Then a thought struck me. “Er…how?”

“With the good old fashioned Chroma Keystone,” explained Wyldstyle as she pointed out the Chroma discs. I said no more as I took out my i.d tag.

“Henshin!” I announced. I swapped my i.d tag for Wyldstyle’s.

“Wyldstyle Steel!” called my belt. With the armor changed, Wyldstyle and I set to work, making a clock like device with the hands holding the L-shapes at 4 and 8 and the circle in the center. The 8 o’ clock hand was red, the circle was yellow, and the 4 o’ clock hand was blue. Thank goodness, we found a Keystone transmitter down here. I got out of my Kamen Rider Royal persona and twirled.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. The discs formed the paint blobs. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The design in white lines reappeared. “Let’s see, Chroma! Batman! Red!” Batman jumped into the red paint and landed on the left L-shape in the lock design. “Chroma! Emmanuel! Blue!” Emmanuel leapt into the air, passed through the blue paint, and then landed on the right L-shape in the lock design, spinning on his feet for five seconds until he stopped bowed. “Chroma! Yellow! Xiomara!” Xiomara just ran through the yellow paint and stopped on the circle in the lock design. The light streams then moved toward the clock design as the hands spun and pointed at 3 o’ clock. The paint vanished off the users.

“Merci,” called Oren and Emmanuel to the compass.

“Oh, are you lost?” asked Chen. “Don’t worry, I’m SURE you’ll get out eventually!” We picked up the transmitter, went down the tunnel indicated by the hands, and arrived at a new room. “Oh hey!” continued Chen. “I’ve sent some of my men to help you get out. They can be a bit heavy handed, but just let them take care of you!” His cackling was interrupted by Luthor’s roar.

“CHEN!” he shouted. “I WILL FIND YOU!”

“Do you really think you went the right way just then?!” taunted Chen.

“Ignore him,” I suggested as I set the transmitter down. To my surprise, I only saw one circle, a yellow one. “Erm, where are the others?” I asked. Gandalf lit up a dark area.

“I believe I found one,” he answered as he pointed out the red circle.

“I think I can find the blue one,” mused Batman. “Sheela, mind helping me out?”

“Sure,” obliged Sheela as she took out her i.d tag. “Henshin!” She then swapped out her i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” announced her belt. Kamen Rider Claw then fired the grapple gun, along with Batman and they pulled down a snake statue. As they pulled, Lex Luthor mentioned something about “this infernal maze!” Batman and Claw got the blue circle out of the snake statue’s mouth. Claw deactivated her suit and returned to being Sheela. Wyldstyle’s gauntlet buzzed. We set up another compass. The left hand was red, the right hand was yellow, and the circle was blue.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal! Chroma! Yellow! Sheela! Chroma! Red! Batman! Chroma! Blue! Megumi!” We all jumped into the paint blobs assigned and landed on the respective shapes in the lock designs. The hands moved to 12 o’ clock. We grabbed the transmitter, headed into the tunnel indicated, and found a compass pointing at 3 o’ clock already.

“Wunderbar!” (Wonderful!) cheered Lukas. We went down that tunnel and entered the room. We looked around to see if there could be something to make a compass. Wyldstyle’s Master Builder senses were tingling and so she constructed one out of a snake statue, a pair of lanterns, and some sort of altar. Once finished, the hands were made so that left, was yellow, right was red, and the circle was blue. Chroma discs were already set up.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal! Chroma! Yellow! Tanisha! Chroma! Red! Gandalf! Chroma! Blue! Livia!” They jumped into the paint blobs assigned while Lex Luthor screamed he would find Chen again. The painted ones landed on the respective shapes in the lock designs. The hands moved to 6 o’clock. We headed down into the tunnel and entered a room where another compass was pointing at 9 o’ clock.

“This is becoming easy,” muttered Hongo with a little worry. We went down that tunnel and found another room with another compass pointing at 12 o’ clock.

“I sense a trap,” mused Emily.

“Recommendations?” I asked. Emily smiled.

“Spring the trap,” she said. I agreed and led the group up the tunnel. We entered a room with a ton of skeletons and an altar with something on it. Wyldstyle smiled.

“Another Keystone!” she cheered. This keystone had four symbols on it. The top was a red circle with three lines protruding from the top, giving the appearance of fire. The left symbol was a small blue lightning bolt. The right one was a green circle with a line going up and a smaller diagonal line on the top line, making it look like an apple. The bottom symbol was a dark blue circle with three short lines on the bottom and separated from the circle. While Wyldstyle faced us at the altar, there was a hissing noise, like a snake.

“Behind you!” warned Gandalf. Wyldstyle turned to see a giant, spikey, purple snake lifting its head! A portal opened above it and deposited a man in reddish robes with a staff on top of the snake.

“Did you think my master would make it so easy for you, Gandalf?” asked the man.

“Saruman the White, have you abandoned all reason?!” protested Gandalf.

“Not at all, my friend, Gandalf the Grey,” replied Saruman, “for I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colors!” He discarded the reddish robes and revealed new robes that shimmered and changed hue with his movements. It was dazzling to the eye.

“I liked your white robes better, Sharkey,” hissed Michael as he spat the name Saruman took in the Scouring of the Shire at the end of the original book series by Tolkien.

“I see you know some Orcish tongue, my young lad,” said Saruman. “Why else would you alter the word ‘sharkû’? In any case, white serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed! The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken!”

“In which case, it is no longer white,” argued Gandalf, “and he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom!”

“Spare me your lectures, Gandalf!” snarled Saruman. “I have no use for them!” Batman was unimpressed by Saruman’s mode of transportation.

“A giant snake, is that all?” taunted the Dark Knight. Gandalf, Wyldstyle and I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Batman to stop taunting Saruman. “I think you’ll find we’re tougher than you expect!” continued Batman. The snake lashed out, destroying the altar and grabbing the Keystone.

“Then I’ll make sure he chews properly,” replied Saruman as he took the Keystone from the snake’s mouth and fastened it to its upper jaw. Saruman then bound us in magic chains. Hongo managed to wiggle out and hurl a stone at Saruman. He lost concentration as the chains disappeared. “Very well!” snapped Saruman. “Element of water, snake!” The snake started firing ice blasts at us! I then got an idea and asked Wyldstyle to help me construct three ramps for the Batmobile to launch itself at the snake. Once I had transformed into Kamen Rider Royal and activated Wyldstyle Steel, we set to work. “Element of fire, Saruman!” Saruman started firing fireballs at us. I only wish they were the candy. The ramps were built as the snake stopped in front of the middle one.

“Your mistake!” called Batman. He got into the Batmobile and launched it at the snake, stunning it. Saruman tried to get it to move again while Batman saw a transmitter. He also noticed three giant snake heads with open mouths behind Saruman. “Been a while,” he muttered. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, in the mouth of the left snake head statue! Yellow, in the mouth of the middle snake head statue! Magenta, in the mouth of the right snake head statue!” The portals opened. “Shift! Batman! Yellow!” Batman went through the portal and appeared behind Saruman. The evil wizard had regained control of the snake as he got it to turn around and bite the platform Batman was on. It missed the Dark Knight, so Batman and Saruman dueled. Batman had managed to get Saruman to hit the snake, making it scream in pain and destroying the platform. I noticed that the Keystone was getting loose.

“Keep at it!” I encouraged.

“You cannot win!” shouted Saruman as he cast magic chains at us. “My master will rule all! I have seen it!”

“Saruman, come to your senses!” called Gandalf as he made a counter spell to break the chains and free us. “No victory can be had siding with evil!” He mounted Shadowfax and charged up the left ramp. Shadowfax’s hooves went deep into the snake’s head, stunning it again. “Batman, the cyan portal, if you please!” said Gandalf.

“Shift! Gandalf! Yellow!” declared Batman. Gandalf landed inside the left snake head and cast a magic bolt to the snake. It turned around and sank its fangs into the platform. Saruman and Gandalf dueled for a while in close quarters.

“I implore you, stop this madness, Saruman!” pleaded Gandalf. He then smacked his staff into the snake’s head, causing it to reel in pain and destroy the platform. The Keystone was that much looser.

“I’ll take it from here!” I called.

“Not a chance, little girl!” countered Saruman as magic chains wrapped around me.

“I’m 5’5”, you jerk!” I shouted as I broke the chains with raw strength.

“I thought average height in Japan was 5’2”?” asked Richard.

“Only among 17 year olds!” I hissed. “I’m 19, in case you forgot!” I mounted my horse.

“Element of lightning, snake!” announced Saruman. The snake fired an electric bolt at my horse. I suffered some minor electrical burns, but my horse shorted out.

“Shadowfax,” called Gandalf, “assist Princess Megumi!” Shadowfax ran up to me and had me mount him.

“I know this is a quote from Gandalf’s future,” I whispered to the horse, “but run, Shadowfax! Show us the meaning of haste!” The Lord of Horses understood that and responded by charging as fast as he could up the right ramp. He fell short, but my fist landed right on the snake’s snout! Surprisingly, the blow I delivered had enough strength to stun a creature its size. Shadowfax landed on his hooves and ran back to Batman. “I think there’s only one portal left,” I observed.

“If you could get off the horse,” requested Batman. I dismounted Shadowfax. “Shift! Megumi! Magenta!” I jumped into the portal and landed on the last platform.

“I shall not allow this!” boomed Saruman. “Element of earth, Saruman!” Rocks started flying at me. Some hit me, but I managed to hurl some at the snake. It roared in pain and destroyed the statue. I fell, battered and bruised, but alive. Saruman was thrown off unceremoniously screaming “NO!” He landed on the floor, then was sucked up by a portal which deposited Hiro.

“Wizards!” scoffed Hiro. “Can’t do anything right!” The snake was still thrashing around in pain.

“MOVE!” shouted Wyldstyle.

“No need to tell us twice!” confirmed Oren as we all ran back a safe distance.

“Stop, you stupid beast!” ordered Hiro. Not a smart thing to say in the long run as the snake bashed him and its head into a wall, making a hole and knocking the Keystone off. Batman grabbed it as we charged into the new room to see Lex Luthor’s mech looming menacingly over a terrified Master Chen. Chen made a move to grab the staff, but Lex Luthor didn’t let him get it. Lex then grabbed the staff himself. He then commanded his mech to raise his foot over Chen with the intent to squish him.

“Hand the staff over, Lex!” hissed Batman.

“No, don’t do that!” called Hiro as he came running up behind us, holding his jaw.

“I had no intention of doing so,” replied Lex. “In fact, Batman, come and get it!”

“With pleasure!” announced Batman. All Vortex Riders then got their i.d tags, Oren got out the durian Lockseed, and Hongo struck his Henshin pose.

“Rider…” called Hongo.

“HENSHIN!” we all shouted. Hongo leapt over Lex and formed his suit, the Vortex Riders jumped into our respective circles, and Oren opened his Lockseed.

“DURIAN!” it announced. Oren put it into his belt, the Sengoku Driver, and closed it. “Lock on!” After a guitar riff, he sliced the lock open. “DURIAN ARMS! MISTER DANGEROUS!” The metal durian landed on his head, formed the undersuit, and unfolded to reveal Kamen Rider Bravo!

“Catchphrases everyone!” I called.

“Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“Catchphrases, then?” quizzed Bravo. “Very well. Kamen Rider Bravo! Now, let us begin…the pageant of death and destruction!” We all stared at Bravo.

“Er…needs work,” I gulped nervously.

“If you’re doing catchphrases…” began Hiro as he loaded his guns with his i.d tag.

“Then it’s only fair you give us the same courtesy,” finished the Rogue Driver.

“Henshin!” announced Hiro as he fired. He ran and spun into the circle, becoming Kamen Rider Rogue. “Kamen Rider Rogue. Stand and deliver!” Lex considered his next move.

“Eh, why not,” shrugged the head of LexCorp. “I am Lex Luthor! No one can defeat my impenetrable power suit!”

“And so begins your downfall,” I mused.

“Not quite,” argued Rogue. He brought out two spheres. “Turretorg, Discornia! I summon you!” Turretorg came back with another monster sporting a feminine build. It had some sort of slinky strapless dress done up in a disco ball fashion, a large, blonde afro, blue disco balls for eyes, large red lips, puffy sleeves done up like disco balls, and silver platform shoes. The main body was silver. I presume this was Discornia. It spoke with a high soprano voice.

“Oh, how cute!” it squeed. I tried to get the ringing out of my ears. “Look at all these little backup dancers!”

“Perhaps, my lady,” mused Turretorg, “but…”

“My lady?!” I interrupted. “Hold on, there’s such a concept as gender among you monsters?” Discornia shrieked in horror as Turretorg growled.

“Of course, there is!!” shouted Turretorg. “I’m a male!! Discornia is a female!! Can’t you tell?!”

“I never make it a habit to assume gender by appearance,” I replied.

“Well, can’t fault her for that,” mused Discornia. “Not all of us are easily identified by our appearance. Sludgiona is a good example.” She brought out a black staff with a small disco ball on each end. “In any case, it’s time to defeat you and do so with style! Oh, Combatmen! Come here, my treasures!” Shocker Combatmen swarmed us alongside Nova Shocker Combatmen.

“Vortexons, fall in!” barked Turretorg. The Vortexons came through some portals that deposited them very quickly.

“Lexbots, your master needs you!” ordered Lex Luthor. Green robots with a gun arm, a cylinder with a single green light for a head, a three-fingered left hand, and a pair of treads for mobility came forth.

“Slay them!” shouted Hiro.

“We pledge obedience!” obliged Turretorg and Discornia. Discornia twirled her staff and went on the attack. She mainly used it for keeping us at bay while dazzling us with the light show she generated. The Combatmen kept attacking us as Lex fired from the gun arm of his mech and then launched a missile strike. Rogue almost got hit.

“GIVE A GUY SOME WARNING, WILL YOU?!” he shouted. The impact of the missiles made chroma discs fall. Batman and Wyldstyle found the nearby transmitter. Batman decided to make a distraction.

“I’ve taken you down before and I’ll do it again, Lex,” he snapped.

“You can try!” taunted Lex as he continued firing. The gun arm jammed. “Oh, for…I THOUGHT I PATCHED THAT!” He banged on the gun arm to get it to work, turning his back to reveal a Chroma design with all shapes in red.

“Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal!” called Wyldstyle.

“STOP HER!” shouted Turretorg.

“Not a bright move!” I snapped. I managed to dispatch a good chunk of the enemy forces.

“Chroma! Red! Bravo!” called Wyldstyle. Bravo leapt into the red paint and landed on each shape in the lock design. Lex’s mech started smoking.

“Pardon, Monsieur Luthor,” apologized Bravo, “but you’ve brought this on yourself.” The design on Luthor’s back changed so that the L-shapes were blue and the circle was yellow.

“Chroma! Yellow! Batman! Chroma! Blue! Royal!” announced Wyldstyle.

“Lex, this is low, even for you,” called Batman as we jumped into our respective paint blobs. “Stop this charade!” The chroma lock made Lex’s mech smoke again.

“Will someone get these twits off my back?!” shouted Lex.

“Allow me!” called Discornia in her overly-cutesy voice. She spun clockwise three times, then twirled her staff over her head, and then tossed it, making the disco balls create a light show that almost dazzled us. That allowed Turretorg to give suppressing fire. The design on Lex changed once more with the left L being yellow, the circle being blue, and the right L being red.

“That’s easy!” I announced. Bravo took the right L, I took the circle, and Batman took the left L. The mech was blown back into the wall, making it lose the staff and knocking Lex Luthor silly. Batman caught the staff.

“MUST I CLEAN UP YOUR MESS?!” roared Rogue to Lex. A portal opened near the mech.

“You have failed me, Luthor!” boomed Vortech’s voice from the portal. Lex tried to get his mech to crawl away but was caught by Vortech’s giant hand and dragged inside.

“What…was…that?!” yelped Wyldstyle. The staff vibrated in Batman’s hands.

“I-I-I-I-d-d-d-don’t-t-t-t-kn-n-n-n-o-o-ow!” he managed to get out. The staff then got out of Batman’s hands, floated in the air, and managed to bond with the new Keystone. The upgraded staff then fell to the ground.

“Secure the target!” shouted Turretorg. We all made a mad dash for the staff, but it’s original owner grabbed it first and spun around, trying to club us in the head. It managed to score a hit on Sengoku. My brother wobbled for a bit.

“Nee-san!” I called. “Daijōbu?” (Are you alright?) He then said a snatch of an old Japanese nursery rhyme and fell, cancelling his transformation.

“I think he has a concussion!” responded Guard.

“Allow me,” called Touché. Thank goodness, she has first aid/CPR training. She managed to get Hiroki out of the way and stayed with him while we turned our attention to Master Chen.

“And now…your punishment for cheating!” he snarled.

“You’re still on about that?!” called Battle.

“I say we know who the real cheater is!” supplied Bravo as he swung his swords at Chen.

“I’m gonna use your empty skull for a bowling ball for the embarrassment you’ve caused my forces!” snarled Hiro. Chen jumped to a higher ledge.

“Now, now,” responded Chen, “no need to get violent. I think we all need to COOL OFF! Element of water, Master Chen!” Oh God, more puns! He managed to coat the entire room in ice, so we slipped for a bit while giant ice stalactites fell from the ceiling. Batman saw an opportunity to get near Chen.

“Rogue! Royal! I need your help!” called Batman.

“What?!” snapped Rogue.

“Rogue, our battle may be undecided,” I said to my biological father, “but if we don’t work together, no one will get the staff or the Keystone.” Rogue considered.

“What did you have in mind?” he asked Batman.

“Can you use armor based on us like the Vortex Riders can?” asked Batman.

“Yes, why?” quizzed Rogue.

“Do you have armor based on me?” asked Batman.

“No, why?” pondered Rogue.

“We’re going to climb the stalactites and pull the end towards that wire,” explained Batman as he pointed to a wire that travelled from one end of the room to Chen’s position.

“Then we can hit him!” finished Rogue. “Perfect!” He then leveled his guns at Batman and fired! Batman felt pain but didn’t die. Rogue had made two red semi-circles with Batman’s symbol on it, his version of the Batman i.d tag, I believe. He loaded the new i.d tag into the guns. He then pointed his guns to the side and fired.

“All right! Batman Steel!” announced the Rogue Driver. Rogue’s wardrobe closed on him at both sides before dissolving. His version of Batman Steel had turned the jacket black with a bat wing design and added points to his now black hat. I just put my i.d tag into my belt.

“Batman Steel!” called my belt. After I had changed, we went across the stalactites and fired our grapple guns to yank the ending stalactite towards us. While that was going on, Chen was firing ice blasts at us. When we got on the ending stalactite, we used our weight to tilt it towards the wire. We got on and slid down the wire. Thank goodness we had protective gloves on us. We would have suffered rope burn otherwise. We then ran towards Chen as we landed on his platform. Then the punching began! Chen managed to score some hits on us, but we barely felt them. I then punched him in the face, which prompted him to hurl us off.

“Ow!” he cried. “That one hurt! You know, you could just let me win. I mean, would it cost you the EARTH?! Element of earth, Master Chen!”

“Not another pun!” snarled Turretorg.

“And just when you proposed!” protested Discornia. I would have commented on the fact that Turretorg intends to marry someone, but I had more pressing matters on my mind. The ice disappeared as a set of ramps of stone with vines tangling everything. Boulders were rolling down towards us!

“What the heck!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“Indy moment!” I shouted. What I wouldn’t give to see Dr. Jones in this situation. The snake motif everywhere and the giant snake Saruman rode on might have made him shake though. A Shocker Combatman patted the shoulder of a Shocker Nova Combatman and a Vortexon and pointed at something under the ramps. After a conversation of “Yee!” from both Combatmen and electronic warbling from the Vortexon, they spoke to Turretorg and Rogue. Somehow, they can understand Combatmen and Vortexons.

“I think that’s a good plan, don’t you, sir?” asked Turretorg.

“An excellent plan, one worthy of promotion,” confirmed Rogue. “I’ll arrange your promotions with your bosses.” That got the Combatmen and Vortexon excited. Their compatriots grumbled.

“What did they say?” asked Gandalf.

“They noticed nooks and crannies in the walls supporting the ramps,” explained Turretorg. “They’re big enough for one of us to fit in.”

“They also noticed that the boulders are falling in a set time,” continued Rogue.

“I get it,” realized Wyldstyle. “Hide in the nooks and crannies as we go up and calculate the timing of the boulders.”

“I think it’s a good idea, don’t you guys?” I asked. I then noticed something. “Wait, where’s Zhànshì and Kämpfer?”

“OVER THERE!” called Discornia. Those two were already on the ramps, dodging the boulders on their way up! They managed to get up there and land some hits before Chen hurled them off.

“Let’s HEAT things up a bit, shall we?” joked Chen.

“Let me guess, fire,” I muttered.

“Element of fire, Master Chen!” announced Chen. The whole room was flooded in lava! My thoughts headed to Touché and Hiroki as the heat could NOT be good for a concussion. Thankfully, Touché, who had cancelled her transformation, had gotten Hiroki to higher ground and kept him in a cool, dark place. Thank goodness. Lava’s the last thing I would wish on anyone, even Rogue. Rocky platforms had appeared in the lava, giving Batman an idea.

“Is the transmitter intact?” he asked.

“Got it right here!” replied Wyldstyle.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Cyan, on the platform near us! Yellow, on the platform near Chen’s right! Magenta, on the platform near Chen’s left!”

“What have you got in mind?” I asked.

“We’re going to use someone to confuse Chen by going through different portals,” whispered Batman.

“Let me do it,” called Guard. I nodded that it was okay.

“Shift! Guard! Cyan!” announced Batman. Guard went to the cyan portal. Chen fired some fire balls at him, but Batman shifted him to yellow. Chen retargeted Guard, but he ended up in the magenta portal. He then jumped from the platform and whacked Chen on the back of his head. Chen then hurled him back to us.

“Ha! Good hit!” praised Chen. That’s it, he’s on the end of his rope. “Well, well, this is quite a battle, eh? I would even call it ELECTRIFYING! Element of lightning, Master Chen!” The lava disappeared and was replaced with water. Chen dipped his currently zappy staff into the water, electrifying the whole place.

“Any ideas?” I asked.

“The chroma discs are back,” replied Wyldstyle. “There’s also a design up there,” she pointed to a chroma design held by a hanging snake statue with a red circle, a blue left L shape, and a right yellow L-shape, “but there’s still the matter of the electrified water.”

“The Batmobile can handle some electricity,” explained Batman.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“The Joker tried to put 1,000,000 volts into it,” replied Batman. “It only served to power it.”

“Dang, that’s a tough car you’ve got!” I complimented.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal!” Thank goodness Batman’s driving the Batmobile because the lock design appeared in the middle of the floor. “Chroma! Yellow! Batman!” Batman drove the Batmobile into the yellow paint and hit the right L-shape. “Chroma! Blue! Batman!” Batman drove through the blue paint and hit the left L-shape. “Chroma! Red! Batman!” Batman drove through the red paint and hit the circle. The lights hit the statue, making it fall and knock Chen to the ground, making him drop the staff, cancelling out the electric water. Rogue, Turretorg, and Discornia made a dash for the staff and Keystone.

“No!” I shouted. “RIDER ROYAL KICK! I kicked Rogue in the head, stunning him for a bit.

“DURIAN SQUASH!” announced Bravo’s Lockseed as he made a wave of energy from his crest which hit Turretorg.

“RIDER KICK!” called Ichigō as he kicked Discornia. Batman grabbed the Keystone while Gandalf took the staff.

“It’s a little gaudy,” muttered the wizard, “but it’s always good to have a spare.”

“We should keep them separate,” suggested Batman. I nodded in agreement. Turretorg and Discornia were sparking, about ready to explode as most monsters do in _Kamen Rider_ , from what Hiroki told me. Speaking of which, Hiroki was coming back to us with Emily helping him.

“What did I miss?” he asked.

“You haven’t missed anything,” replied Rogue as he recovered from my kick. He saw the sparking monsters. “Turretorg, Discornia, return!” They turned back into their sphere forms and flew to Rogue’s hands He put them away for later use. “Now, as for…” He was hit on the head by Gandalf and lost consciousness, canceling his transformation. A portal opened.

“And now you’ve failed!” boomed Vortech’s voice as his giant hand retrieved Hiro’s unconscious body. Another portal opened and sucked up Chen’s body. I didn’t feel a sense of dread, so it was probably ours. Chen must have been returned to his seat up top.

“Flying monkeys, giant robots, ninjas,” mused Wyldstyle, “shall we find out what’s next?”

“May I join you?” asked Bravo as we canceled our transformations.

“Go right ahead!” I agreed. We mounted got on our vehicles, bar Hiroki being put on Emily’s horse since she wanted to keep an eye on him. Oren had admitted that this was his first time riding a horse. We all charged through the portal with Gandalf falling off Shadowfax while trying to ride with two staffs in hand. Batman’s grappling hook wrapped around the Grey Wizard as he was taken into the portal. We all made our way back to Vorton!


	13. Chapter 13

“I’m very disappointed in you, Lex and Hiro,” rumbled Vortech as he dangled Hiro and Lex Luthor in front of him.

“It’s not my fault!” protested Lex. “You should have warned me Batman and his cronies would be there!”

“I did!” argued Hiro. “You were the one who underestimated them!”

“Batman? Again?!” snapped Vortech as he released the two of them. “Well, if mice are scurrying through my property, then I’d better put down some traps!”

“You do that,” replied Hiro as he picked himself up. He then took out the spheres of Turretorg and Discornia. “In the meantime, I’m going to regenerate these two. They were about to explode back there.” He headed to a terminal with many spheres and inserted the two in his hands into empty slots. Holograms of the monsters appeared in red and showed a status bar.

“Well, I can see Vortech’s no Shocker leader,” called a voice that made Hiro grin. He turned to see Igura. “Such a sloppy man, he can’t even keep the enemy straight,” she muttered.

“He pays well,” explained Hiro, “but he’s no true ruler. He intends to make one perfect universe at the expense of others but doesn’t understand that a multiverse needs to exist to keep ideas fresh, reality stable, and feelings to flourish.” He then remembered something. “Speaking of feelings,” he continued, “do you remember our days in Shocker?”

“Ah, yes,” remembered Igura, “you were one of Shocker’s top scouts. Discovering your belt was what inspired Shocker to make a cyborg super soldier for their needs.”

“Remember when I said that you were the only light in that dark organization?” asked Hiro.

“That was when we were young,” sighed Igura, “when I was young. Now, I am old, and far past my prime. There is someone better for you.”

“Not true,” argued Hiro, “my feelings for you have not changed. I’m going to ask you something, and I want your honest answer. ‘No’ is fine with me.” He got down on one knee and opened a ring box to reveal a ring with an eagle decoration. “Igura, will you spend the rest of your life with me as my wife?” Igura gasped.

“Is this a joke?” she asked as her eyes went misty.

“I never joke about this,” replied Hiro.

“It was a joke when you married Megumi’s mom,” noticed Igura.

“She could never fill the void in my heart that came when I was taken from our home,” answered Hiro. “Well?” He was then taken into Igura’s embrace.

“YES!” she cheered. “I would love to be your wife!” She released Hiro to allow him to slip the ring on her finger. “Of course,” mused Igura as she looked at the ring, “we need to wait for these events to end.”

“Then we need to end them quickly,” chuckled Hiro as he leaned in for a kiss, which was reciprocated. They heard a “Tch!” from behind them and turned to see Ambassador Hell watching them.

“This is exactly what makes humans weak,” he hissed. “You’ve fallen far, Igura. You forget that without me, you would have no power!”

“You forget that a world cannot be conquered unless you control the money,” argued Igura.

“Quite honestly,” mused Hiro, “if I stayed back home, I would have joined Shocker Nova.”

“That would be a very poor move,” countered Ambassador Hell. “Besides, without me, we wouldn’t have any Foundation Elements.”

“I noticed that you haven’t done anything,” said Hiro.

“He’s needed to command his troops,” replied Vortech as he approached them. “A general hardly enters the battlefield and risk getting killed. It would put his troops in disarray!”

“Oh yeah?” commented Hiro. “And you would know? A general that hangs back is a coward in my eyes! He that never fights wouldn’t know how to throw a punch!”

“I can fight!” argued Ambassador Hell.

“Yeah, poorly!” countered Igura.

“Ambassador Hell could probably locate the next Foundation Element without help!” boasted Vortech.

“I could do better!” argued Igura.

“You wouldn’t even last five seconds in another dimension before you start worrying about dirt on your coat!” snapped Ambassador Hell.

“Would you two care to make a wager on the outcome?” asked Hiro.

“I wouldn’t want to bet against your fiancée,” assured Vortech with heavy sarcasm.

“Well, if you two are afraid,” taunted Igura. Ambassador Hell’s claw clamped on Igura’s neck.

“I’m afraid of nothing!” he snarled.

“Prove it!” gasped Igura.

“Ambassador Hell, release her! We’re taking up their wager!” ordered Vortech. Ambassador Hell dropped Igura. “Name your stakes,” requested Vortech. After he made sure Igura was okay, Hiro laid out the wager.

“Once the next Foundation Element is located,” he explained, “we will split into two Shocker branches-only teams. Ambassador Hell will lead Shocker and Igura, Shocker Nova. Whoever finds the Foundation Element and returns here with it is the winner. The loser must prepare the winner’s meal.”

“Done!” agreed Ambassador Hell.

* * *

While that was going on, we returned to Vorton and got out of our vehicles. Emily led Hiroki to the med-bay while Batman turned to Gandalf. “That staff’s important, somehow,” guessed Batman.

“We should put it somewhere secure,” suggested Hongo.

“Agreed,” I replied. Gandalf decided to put it away. He leaned it up against a wall. It fell over. He tried again, same results. He was about to try once more when a green hand grabbed it. The owner of the hand, Elphaba, was nose to nose with Gandalf.

“There’s a vault on the same level as the brig,” she snapped. “You can put it there!” She shoved the staff back into Gandalf’s hands. Gandalf recovered as Batman held up the new Keystone.

“This is the Elemental Phase Keystone,” called the mysterious voice. “Also known as the Keystone with the fanciest name.”

“Can’t we just say Elemental Keystone?” I asked.

+SAYING ELEMENTAL KEYSTONE DOES ACTIVATE ITS POWERS+ replied my belt. +GATEWAY 60% STABILIZED. BATTLE ARENA ONLINE+

“Battle arena?” I quizzed.

+DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMPETITIONS WITH FIELDS FROM ACROSS THE DIMENSIONS WILL DETERMINE WINNERS+ said my belt. +IT ALSO HAS A HOLOGRAPHIC BATTLE SIMULATION WITH FAMOUS BATTLES FROM ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE IN ITS DATABANKS+

“Now that sounds awesome!” cheered Sheela.

“We’ll test it out once this mess is over,” I declared. Emily came back to us. “How’s Hiroki?” I asked.

“He’s recovering at a faster rate than most humans do,” reported Emily. “Just a good night’s sleep and he should be all right for tomorrow.”

“Good,” I replied. “I need him ready for the coming fight.”

“Do you think that we’ll be fighting Hiro tomorrow?” asked Gandalf.

“We’ve caused major embarrassment for him by taking the staff and the Elemental Keystone,” I answered. “I think a fight with him is very likely.”

“In the meantime,” requested Elphaba, “could someone technically minded help me? The gateway is making a rattling noise.”

“I’ll check it out,” answered Lukas.

“Let me help,” offered Batman. That’s when the portal opened again. I really didn’t want these people to come through. Why? I had visited their dimension once and loathed it! The people that came out were Bart Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and Homer Simpson, in that order.

“Eat my shorts, you two!” Bart taunted to Homer and Krusty.

“You’re gonna pay for dousing my new business opportunity!” snarled Krusty, in reference to his new flame grilled burgers.

“Why, you little!” shouted Homer. He managed to catch Bart and started strangling him. While that was going on, I decided to get some new i.d tags. How I got them, in fairness, wasn’t gentle, but since I hate their show, I wasn’t gonna lose sleep over what I planned to do. I kicked Homer in the teeth, punched Bart in the face, and threw them into Krusty. Since I already had the Krusty i.d tag, I had now gotten the Homer and Bart ones.

“Now then,” I snarled, “out you go!” I threw them one by one into the portal back to their world and shut it off. “Well,” I remarked, “that was entertaining.”

“Who were those people?!” asked Oren.

“No one you would want in your shop, I can assure you,” replied Emmanuel. While we were in the Vortex, Oren had revealed his past about being a former para-trooper in France, hence why he can speak fluent French, and his training and current job as the head chef and owner of the pastry shop, Charmant II. He never revealed what happened to the original Charmant after the events of Kamen Rider Gaim. It didn’t matter, for at that moment, a portal opened for him. “I guess this is Au revoir for now, Monsieur Oren Pierre Alfonzo,” remarked Emmanuel.

“If you ever visit Zawame, my home town,” invited Oren, “be sure to stop by Charmant II. Au revoir, mes amis!” He then gasped as if he remembered something. “I found this bag on the front steps of Charmant II before that portal united me with you.” He gave us the bag. I opened it to see studs!

+TOTAL STUDS IN BAG ARE 95,000+ said my belt. +CURRENT CUMULATIVE STUD TOTAL IS 380,000+

“Merci!” I called to Oren. He bowed and then jumped through the portal. “Well,” I said, “who’s up for dinner?” A collective stomach growl came from everyone. “I thought so. Let’s eat.” We headed down to the cafeteria and had our meals. Emily had brought a meal to Hiroki so he could get something in his belly. After a shower, we all went to bed, with Hiroki staying in the med-bay so Emily, with her quarters next door, could check on him.

* * *

Death had arrived at the tournament arena we were at and met with someone training a regiment under their command. The armor the leader wore disguised their gender as it gave the appearance of a muscular warrior with an angry face for the helmet design. Death dismounted her horse and approached the armored person. The person turned and took off the helmet to reveal a woman’s face with a scar across her right eye going to her left cheek. “I have come for your aid, War,” whispered Death, “in troubled times. The Vortexons are abroad. Darkness that our sisters, Light and Dark, cannot control is approaching! The Tarlaxians under Vortech’s control are alive and well!”

“Is that all the news you have for me then?” grunted War as she went to improve the stance of one of her soldiers.

“Is that not enough?!” whispered Death. “Vortech is moving again!”

“We can deal with Vortech ourselves, Death,” grunted War. “You and me. One way or another, we’ll have true power as Gods.”

“What talk is this?!” whispered Death. ‘What are you saying, War?!”

“It’s time for us to choose,” grunted War. “A new age is coming to the dimensions. A new power is rising. Nothing that anyone can do will avail against it. Vortech’s enemies are utterly doomed, but his allies…well…I see no downside to a universe of his design. Ultimately, it will lead to eternal…me!”

“Are you saying that we should join with Vortech?!” whispered Death.

“Does that displease you?” grunted War. Her tone became more dangerous. “Where’s the Foundation Saber?! Why does Lacey say she no longer has it?! That blade was crafted by my hands! Have you taken it? Would you rather…”

“General War, forgive the interruption,” called one of War’s commanders, “but our intelligence network has discovered something that might be of interest.” He handed a device over to War.

“What is this?” grunted War.

“After careful study, we’ve determined it to be one of the logs of Vortech’s minions, specifically, Hiro Adachi,” replied the commander

“From the Kamen Rider world?” whispered Death.

“Yes, my lady,” confirmed the commander. “The contents have been unlocked and examined to be sure that it wasn’t doctored. You may want to take a listen before declaring the thing you personify on Death.” War took the log and pressed the play button.

“Rogue’s log, multiverse date: 37th day of the 2019th year of the 9th multiversal age (February 6th, 2019); I have managed to discover that a weapon known as the Foundation Saber is needed to stabilize the elements. I have tried to tell Vortech this, but he’s so convinced that someone may use it to kill him. He’s right though, but he’s not sure where it is. I have revisited the world of the Simpsons to get information from Lacey.” Death gasped. “She said that War had crafted it as one of the few weapons that can harm her.” War arched an eyebrow. “When I told Vortech of this, he said that there is a far cleaner way to defeat War and her associates and bend them to his rule, the Rifle of Tarlax. Since we have enslaved and brainwashed some Tarlaxians, convincing them they are advanced Tarlaxians, I will ask them where the rifle is. Once we have all four horsemen, Vortech will use the rifle to implant a controller into their skulls since Shocker and Shocker Nova’s methods of brainwashing will prove fruitless. Both branches are working on a solution right now. End log.” War was trembling in anger.

“His allies?” whispered Death. “Vortech claims none. There is a third choice. Stay in the enemy’s council and learn of their plans.”

“Skulk around and pass information like a rat?” grunted War. “No. I see no honor in staying another second as Vortech’s ally.” She turned to her troops. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we march for battle! Prepare for the red rain! Sharpen your blades! Load your guns! We march for glory and victory!” The troops cheered in readiness.

“Not yet!” whispered Death. “We still need to keep the Foundation Saber away from Vortech! There is a weapon that you crafted. Five to be precise.” War turned sharply on Death.

“Are you out of your mind?” she snarled. “Our own transformation belts are bad enough, but the Apocalypse Driver?! We don’t even have a rider that can carry the name Apocalypse. There is a mutant named that, but that dimension is already in turmoil and is beyond even Vortech’s reach!”

“But we DO have a rider that can carry the mantle of Apocalypse,” whispered Death. “Perhaps, you know of whom I speak. An old friend of ours. A goth girl with lacey clothes and a black flower in her hair with a skull in the center.”

“Not Lacey!” grunted War. “She can’t handle such a task. Her humanity would get in the way!”

“Just give her a chance!” insisted Death. War grunted. “She’s proven that she can put aside humanity when duty comes first! She’s a skilled commander! She’s the proper age!” War rolled her eyes.

“Ma’am,” questioned the commander, “what choice do we have? Besides, Lacey is an old friend. She may prove to be a perfect candidate for Apocalypse.” War considered.

“There’s still Pestilence and Famine to convince,” she finally grunted.

“Then we must convince them together,” whispered Death.

“Sadly, War will not join you,” remarked a voice. Everyone turned to see Hiro standing in the seats above. He chuckled as he jumped down to the arena. “Vortech’s not gonna like the fact that you betrayed him, War.”

“I don’t like the fact that you’ve proven yourself to be a rat,” grunted War.

“Hiro, this does not need to devolve into a fight,” whispered Death.

“War started it,” argued Hiro as he loaded his i.d tag. “Henshin!”

“You’re not the only one with a belt like that,” grunted War. “Soldiers, the Bellum Driver, if you please.” A soldier opened a box with a belt inside. It had a black strap with a grey sphere and a sword above it. War put the belt on. “Named after my Latin name,” explained War, “it is a new weapon that will spell your defeat! Henshin!” She slid the sword into the sphere.

“War!” rumbled the belt. Armor appeared, giving the appearance of an angry, orange soldier with pointed canines.

“Kamen Rider War!” roared War. “I shall bring battle to your doorstep!”

“I’m getting in on this too!” whispered Death as she pulled out a black belt with bones going horizontally across and an upside-down skull with the mouth open. Death put the belt on. “Henshin!” she whispered. She turned the skull right-side up, which closed the jaw automatically. The sapphires that made up the eyes started glowing.

“Death!” rumbled the belt. Her armor had a black and white skeletal motif with a cowl and scythe blades on the forearms.

“Kamen Rider Death!” announced Death. “You cannot delay your appointment with me!”

“We’ll see!” declared Rogue. “Kamen Rider Rogue! Stand and deliver!” The two charged at each other. War’s soldiers cheered War and Death on, giving them strength.


	14. Chapter 14

I had the same dream again, my friends’ corpses accusing me of failing them, Richard’s hand making contact and decaying me, and the dream ending when the decay reaches my jaw. I woke up again. This is absurd, I thought talking to Gandalf would help! I did my usual dress routine and headed to the gateway. I saw Gandalf and Wyldstyle talking to each other over tea. Gandalf was talking about the time a friend of his, Radagast the Brown, outran a pack of Orcs on dog-like creatures called Wargs while Radagast was on a sled pulled by rabbits. “I had never known Rhosgobel Rabbits to outrun Gundabad Wargs!” laughed Gandalf. “In hindsight, it was rather funny!”

“This was the guy that lived in a crooked house?” asked Wyldstyle in a tone asking for confirmation.

“Well, he’s odd, I grant you,” admitted Gandalf. “He’s led a solitary life.”

“I hate to interrupt,” I called, surprising the two, “but sleep won’t come to me. I had a horrible dream.”

“Was it a dream where our corpses were accusing you of failing us and Richard grabbing you and infecting you with decay, but the dream ends with the decay reaching your eyes before you wake up?” asked Wyldstyle. I arched an eyebrow.

“Yes, except change that to the decay reaching my jaw,” I replied.

“I woke up when the decay reached your neck,” answered Gandalf. Okay, this can NOT be coincidence.

“Was that true when your corpses were accusing me of failing you?” I asked.

“Not remotely,” assured Gandalf.

“You haven’t failed us by any stretch,” confirmed Wyldstyle.

“Well, there’s that bit of ammo if I dream that dream again,” I mused. “May I join you? I don’t think there’ll be sleep for me tonight.”

“Go ahead,” invited Wyldstyle. I sat down and poured some tea as we sat on the gateway pad.

“So,” I began, “I know of Batman and Hongo-san’s backstories when they couldn’t sleep…”

“Why do you say Hongo-san?” asked Gandalf.

“San is an honorific like the English Mr. or Mrs.,” I explained. Gandalf understood. “In any case, why don’t you tell us your tale? What made you use magic?”

“Actually,” began Gandalf, “I’ve had magic my entire life. I am a Maia spirit, the plural of which being Maiar, sent to Middle-Earth, by the Valar of Valinor, to keep watch over the free peoples that live there and aid them where possible against Sauron, a fallen Maia. We were an order of five called the Istari. Although Sauron’s power was great, the Valar had already seen the tragic consequences of direct interference at the end of the First Age when they brought their total strength against Morgoth, known also by his first name as Melkor and as Sauron’s former master, resulting in the destruction of a country touching the sea called Beleriand and reshaping the world. The Valar also knew of the corruption and lust for power from even the Maiar’s use of magic as evidenced by Sauron. So, the Valar sent us, the Istari, to help Middle-Earth, but were forbidden from using our full power or attacking Sauron directly. Thus, we take the form of old men so we could speak to both elves and Men as equals to win their trust. Our leader was known as Curumo and was sent by a Vala known as Aulë. He was a wise and respected figure in Middle-Earth and was declared the leader of the White Council, a group of Elves and Wizards to combat the threat of Sauron. I was called Olórin in my younger days and was sent by my teachers Manwë, Varda, Nienna, and Irmo. I had originally considered myself too weak and frightened to be of any use in the fight against Sauron, but my teacher saw potential in me and ordered me to go. There was one that was originally not considered to go with the Istari, but joined us at the insistence of his teacher, Yavanna. He was known as Aiwendil, but later called himself Radagast the Brown. He spends his days looking after the plants and animals of Middle-Earth. The last two were a pair of blue wizards called Alatar and Pallando. Only Alatar was asked to go, but his friendship with Pallando allowed them both to go and renaming themselves Morinehtar and Rómestámo. I believe they were responsible for starting a magic cult or two in Middle-Earth.” Gandalf lit his pipe while Wyldstyle and I processed the info.

“That’s…quite a lot,” I gulped. “I wish I had met Curumo. He sounds like a nice guy.”

“He was,” answered Gandalf, “but power corrupted him. You’ve already met him, but he called himself something else.” He faced us. “He rode atop a giant snake in the previous dimension we were in.”

“Saruman?!” I yelped. “Never mind.” I turned to Wyldstyle. “What about you? What’s your story?”

“Not really as elaborate as Gandalf’s,” replied Wyldstyle. “I was 9 when things went sour for Master Builders. I said to my mom that I could see numbers and had an urge to build every single day. The robot Mom had bought heard that and tried to take me to jail when Mom intervened. My dad, an alcoholic, had left us, so we couldn’t depend on him to help us. Mom told me to run. I hesitated, but Mom ordered me to run again and I did. The robots surrounding my home leveled it and took my mom to jail. From what I heard, she never told Lord Business what happened to me and so suffered. I don’t know how. I suffered from insecurity and changed my name a lot. A man named Vitruvius helped me master my Master Builder powers and helped me start the resistance movement against Lord Business. From there, I discovered Emmet, dragged him along for the ride when he found the Piece of Resistance, and helped him discover his Master Builder powers to fight Lord Business and stop his Kragle plan.”

“Kragle?” asked Gandalf.

“A substance that freezes you in place,” I explained.

“Interesting backstories,” rasped a voice. We jumped to see Batman standing with the rest of our group.

“How long have you guys been there?” I asked.

“Long enough,” replied Hongo.

“Is it morning already?” quizzed Gandalf.

“It would appear so,” I replied. “Breakfast, everyone?” They all agreed. We had pancakes this time. After breakfast, we mounted our vehicles. “All set?” I asked. Everyone confirmed. “CHARGE!” I shouted. The portal opened and we all went through.

* * *

We travelled through the vortex a bit. A bit longer…longer……longer……… “Shouldn’t we have arrived by now?!” asked Wyldstyle.

“Yes,” answered Batman. “Something’s up.”

“Wyldstyle, check your relic scanner,” I said. Wyldstyle pulled out the scanner and took a reading.

“Uh, not good!” she gulped. Our hearts sank.

“So, what do we do?” asked Gandalf.

“Well, I suggest you mind your heads!” called a voice with a Scottish accent. That’s when something whizzed over our heads. What was it? You’re not gonna believe this, but it was a blue box. I kid you not! It read “Police Public Call Box” on the top on all four sides, had a light on the top, which was blinking in rhythm to the noise it made. At best, I could say the noise was a Vworp or a whoosh. The box had two windows on each side, with the front having two signs. One of them read “Police Telephone. Free for Use of Public. Advice and Assistance Obtainable Immediately. Officers and Cars Respond to Urgent Calls. Pull to Open,” and was square shaped while the circle sign read “St John Ambulance.” While the doors told the person outside to pull to open, judging by the way the doors were pulled open from the inside, I’d say the outside person had to push to open. The person was an old man with short, wavy hair, the fiercest expression I’ve ever seen, eyebrows that could tell stories without a mouth, and a set of navy blue clothes with black clothes. “Hold on a sec!” called the man. He shut the doors and we heard his voice from the box. “Not that you have a choice in the matter. You’re stuck in a rift loop!” The box matched our speed but stayed ahead of us. The doors opened again and the man fired a grapple gun, specifically Batman’s! “Grab on!” encouraged the man. Was he gonna pull all 20 of us into that tiny box?!

“There’s no room!” I shouted.

“Oh yes, there is!” cheered Michael as he grabbed the line. I saw that and thought him mad!

“Are you out of your mind?!” I shouted.

“Just trust me!” called Michael. “We’re about to go on an adventure through time and space!” I blinked. Off his rocker, but I grabbed on and ordered everyone to do the same. Our horses grabbed on with their mouths, Hongo passed the line through the spokes of his bike and Batman hooked the end of the line to the Batmobile’s front. We were all pulled inside. When I got my bearings, I couldn’t believe what was inside! You would think that being a small box, it would have a small inside! What I saw was some sort of large interior with a set of panels done in a hexagonal shape with a central cylinder going up to the ceiling and some sort of mechanism going up and down inside!

“Er, what happened to three-dimensional Euclidian geometry?!” yelped Lukas.

“The Time Lords tore it up, threw it in the air, and snogged it to death!” cheered Michael. “Thus, a human’s entire understanding of physical space is transformed by Time Lord transportation! Our grasp of the universal constants of physical reality is now changed…forever!”

“Okay, you’re impressed by my home, thank you!” snapped the man in a dismissive tone. “Come on! Don’t just sit there! You’ve got a bunch of monsters to meet!”

“Who are you?” demanded Batman. “What did you do to us?”

“Is he always like this, Megumi?” asked the man. Wait, what?! “I assumed I just caught him at a bad time before.”

“Uh, what?!” stammered Wyldstyle. The man took the relic scanner and waved some sort of wand with a green light on the end over the thing. He put the wand away, earning a groan of disappointment from Michael.

“I’m the Doctor,” introduced the man. “I locked on to your scanner. Remember that.”

“Before?” I asked.

“You said before,” observed Batman.

“Is this some sort of time mess?” asked Hongo. “There IS a Kamen Rider that can help in that regard.”

“Well spotted, Batman, Megumi, and Hongo. Go to the head of the class!” commented the Doctor. “This is the TARDIS.”

“Short for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space!” cheered Michael. The Doctor blinked, then continued.

“It travels in time,” he went on. “We’ve met you lot before, but you haven’t met us yet. That’s time travel for you.” While the Doctor was explaining, Gandalf touched a panel, got a shock, briefly turning him into Gandalf the White, before he returned to being grey.

“You’re lying!” accused Batman.

“No, here’s your grapple gun,” explained the Doctor as he tossed the instrument to Batman.

“Clearly a copy,” dismissed Batman as he pulled out his own grapple gun.

“Again, no,” hissed the Doctor, a little irritated. “Like I say, time machine! Not a 3-D printer! Just give me your grapple gun later.”

“Doctor,” I said, “you said ‘We’ve met you before’ as if there’s another person.”

“Doctor, can I release the button now?” asked a voice. It came from a Japanese man in a teacher’s suit. He had a pompadour hairstyle, not usual to anyone from Japan. Hiroki arched an eyebrow.

“Kisaragi Gentarō?” he quizzed in Japanese name order. “What are you doing here?”

“The Doctor said I was needed to help some people,” explained Gentarō. “He said that holding this button down would help the TARDIS get into the rift loop you guys were stuck in, otherwise the harmonics core would implode.”

“That was an act,” muttered the Doctor. “There’s no such thing as a harmonics core, at least, not yet. You said you couldn’t understand gobbledygook, so I had you do something to keep you occupied.”

“You could have said for me to not touch anything!” protested Gentarō as he released the button.

“Given what Kengo said about you,” argued the Doctor, “I couldn’t take any chances, even after you told me not to listen to him. Pretty feeble attempt to change history. You’ve only ensured that events in your timeline will happen.”

“But…I never did that…” muttered Gentarō.

“Again, time travel,” said the Doctor as he tossed a device to Gentarō. The device had four slots in different shapes, had red tab switches under the slots, and had a handle on the right side. Gentarō’s eyes went wide.

“But…this thing was destroyed!” he yelped. “I threw it into molten steel!”

“You gave it to me earlier, after I first met you,” explained the Doctor.

“Where did my future self get it?” asked Gentarō.

“He just got it when you caught it,” commented the Doctor.

“Ah, a causal loop!” called Michael. The Doctor got up from the console.

“So, you know about the bootstrap paradox?” he asked. “Go ahead, share it with the class.”

“With pleasure!” cheered Michael as he grabbed a chalkboard and a piece of chalk. He drew a stick figure and made a curved line downwards and writes 1700’s. “So, the situation is this: a time traveler that loves Johann Sebastian Bach decides to meet his musical hero and so goes to the point when _Toccata and Fugue_ is first composed. When he asks around, he realizes that there’s no one by the name of Bach.

“The time traveler is distraught and decides to copy the music FOR Bach. History goes on with barely a quiver. He returns to his time,” he draws another curved line going up back to the stick figure, “and is left with a conundrum. Someone is going to be inspired enough to travel back in time to hear _Toccata and Fugue_ but will be distraught and so copy down all of Bach’s music.” He picked up an electric guitar.

“So, where did _Toccata and Fugue_ come from?” he asked. He strummed the opening notes of _Toccata and Fugue in D Minor_. “This is an example of a causal loop, or bootstrap paradox, named after Heinlein’s book, _By his Bootstraps_ which demonstrates this rather well in terms of a book. The time traveler is inspired by the music and ends up ‘writing’ the music.

“In effect, the time traveler inspired himself. He copied ‘Bach’, who copied the time traveler, who copied ‘Bach’, who copied the time traveler, and so on and so forth ad infinitum, without a beginning.” Emily raised her hand and Michael pointed to her.

“Won’t that mean that the results fade, in this instance, the music?” asked Emily.

“Not at all,” explained Michael. “Aristotle once said that you don’t have to prove ‘immediate knowledge’, so Bach’s Toccata and Fugue must have been written in order to exist. As demonstrated by this figure here,” he pointed to the drawing, “the reason that the music exists is why the traveler went on this journey. To him, it’s a straight line. To time, on the other hand, he went in a circle.

“Now, of course, a bootstrap paradox is not particularly useful, it simply IS. We’ve side stepped the question of ‘who wrote the music?’ by rendering the concept of beginnings moot. We are given a totally different sort of answer, which is the same as not answering.

“Such an answer makes me miss my companions of old,” mused the Doctor. “It holds together, but it’s also infuriating.” I raised my hand and Michael called on me.

“I hate to muddy the waters,” I asked, “but what about alternate timelines?”

“Essentially, the theory goes,” explained our teacher, Michael, “that there MUST have been a sequence of events in which Bach, or some other third party, let’s not make this more complicated than it is, wrote the music. However, that timeline was derailed by something that didn’t happen in the original history of events and so the time traveler is forced to intervene. So, what changed in the original timeline?

“Maybe the arrival of the time traveler himself? Perhaps Bach was too busy throwing his wig at the Doctor when he tried to explain the bootstrap paradox to the composer. Maybe meeting a fanboy put him off music all together. Whatever the reason, the time traveler must intervene.

“But, what happens in the new timeline, when someone decides to meet his hero, Bach? And in the timeline that follows that one? And so on and so forth? Time changes from a line stretching to infinity to a branching tree stretching to infinity.” Richard raised his hand and was called on.

“Doesn’t that imply that the theory begins with the assumption of an original composer and that composer is Bach?” asked Richard.

“Yes indeed,” confirmed Michael. “Which is what we’re trying to prove. The Greeks call it ‘begging the question’.”

“They can call it what they like,” exclaimed Gentarō as he rubbed his head, “I’m calling it a massive headache!”

“So, class,” asked Michael, “what did we learn?”

“Paradoxes, in general, can keep someone awake,” I muttered.

“ _Toccata and Fugue in D Minor_ is an awesome tune,” said Emily.

“Time travel and logic are not friends,” commented Lukas.

“To use my words,” supplied the Doctor, “it’s all wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, stuff.”

“Well, whatever happened,” mused Gentarō, “I’m glad my old friend, the Fourze Driver, came back for now.”

“Fourze Driver?” I asked. “Are you a Kamen Rider?”

“I sure am!” cheered Gentarō. “I’m the Rider who will befriend everyone I meet!”

“That may prove challenging if you meet people that hate me,” remarked the Doctor. The TARDIS’ noises became louder until I heard a thud. “Ah, we’ve landed. Okay, out you go.” We were shoved out of the TARDIS. We had landed in a control room of some sorts. Batman looked out the window to see a probe float by.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” replied the Doctor. “Call it, I don’t know, ‘Dave’!” Batman shook his head as the Doctor handed a piece of paper to Wyldstyle. “This is my phone number, you’ll call it when you get into trouble and I’ll help you out. I’m nice like that.” Wyldstyle felt creeped out when the Doctor winked.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” asked Gentarō.

“Look, normally I’d come along with you,” explained the Doctor, “but if I cross my own time-stream here, it’ll rip a hole in the universe so big you could drive his ego through it.” He pointed to Batman who snarled at that comment. “Anyway, good luck.” He scurried into the TARDIS and took off by fading away with what Michael called a Vworp. I checked over my team and saw Gandalf just staring at where the TARDIS was. Poor guy, he was out of his element. The wizard blinked a few times before speaking.

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on, please?” he had asked. Wyldstyle’s scanner started blinking.

“Not really, no,” she replied, “but, I think another Keystone’s here.” I yelped.

“I forgot to ask who controls the Elemental Keystone!” I cried.

“Be at peace, my lady,” assured Gandalf as he held up his left hand as it wore a Keystone Gauntlet. “Wyldstyle helped me puzzle this thing out.” Judging by his expression, I’d say Gandalf had found some familiar ground to work with.

“Guys,” called Emily, “the transmitter’s in that tube.”

“Blast,” hissed Gandalf. “It’s blocking out the Keystone. I cannot use it.”

“And there’s ice everywhere,” muttered Hiroki as he shivered. “Some of it is blocking out a grapple hook.”

“We’ll have to get the transmitter out,” declared Batman. Gandalf looked around.

“This place is unlike anywhere I’ve ever seen,” he mused. “Let us hurry and find the Keystone.”

“Search for the controls to open the tube,” I said. We started looking around, but most of the controls were dead. I heard something metal falling. It turned out to be Wyldstyle and Hongo bringing a ladder down. “Let’s hope any controls up there will prove functional,” I said.

“Maybe we don’t need to use buttons,” observed Wyldstyle. She pointed to a piece of machinery on top of the transmitter’s prison that could be knocked loose.

“I think one batarang should do it,” rasped Batman. He threw one and it knocked the tube open, allowing the transmitter to be blown out.

“Allow me to handle this,” called Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate!” He was surrounded in a light that shifted from blue, to cyan, to red, to green, to blue again, and so on. “Let’s see,” muttered Gandalf, “let’s have you try fire on the ice, Sir Richard. Element of fire, Richard!” Richard was surrounded in a red light.

“Now this is interesting,” he chuckled. He then summoned a fireball. When his face lit up, he put his hands together and fired a torrent of flames at the ice, melting it quickly. The ice exposed the grapple hook and wires that needed to be connected. Richard grabbed his i.d tag while I grabbed mine.

“Henshin!” we announced. After the transformation sequence, Gentarō gawked.

“You guys are Kamen Riders?!” he gawked.

“We sure are!” confirmed Guard. He then swapped out his i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” announced his belt. I swapped mine out for the Gandalf one.

“Gandalf Steel!” called my belt. As we settled into our new armor, Batman and Guard got the grapple hook to come loose while Gandalf and I got the wires connected. Batman and Guard’s part caught fire while Gandalf and I had no mishap.

“Element of water, Batman!” announced Gandalf. A blue aura surrounded Batman. He summoned a water ball, then put his hands together and doused the flames. Wyldstyle took the pieces and made an electrical coil. “Hm,” mused Gandalf, “most of us are used to a Keystone’s power except Gentarō. Would you like to try?”

“Sure!” confirmed Gentarō. “Since I don’t have my switches on me now, I’ll go with the Keystone, whatever it is.”

“Element of lightning, Gentarō!” announced Gandalf. Gentarō was surrounded by a cyan aura, generated lightning from his fingers, and zapped the coil.

“Elec on,” he joked. The door opened and revealed a humanoid, silver creature walking towards us with an arm outstretched. It had silver handles going up from where ears would be to the top of the head, a slight “tear-drop” design to the holes that work as eyes, and a blue light in the center. Iron Man should sue. It stomped forward for a bit, then slowed down, then fell. I cancelled my transformation to roll him over. The light in the chest had gone out.

“Well,” I jested, “low batteries?”

“We should move,” gulped Michael, looking a little scared. I arched an eyebrow but got everyone to move. We arrived in a room that had a hidden alcove in the wall, frozen over. A Keystone transmitter was being guarded and I could see security cameras around that area. Richard was still in Batman Steel, so he turned invisible and headed to the transmitter. He managed to lower the guard and turn off the cameras.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Gentarō!”

“Fire on!” called Gentarō. I had no idea why he was doing that, but, oh well. He melted the ice on the alcove doors. It seemed to be missing a design.

“Hey, this image looks like that space man robot we saw!” observed Wyldstyle. “It looks incomplete, though. Maybe completing it is the key.”

“I think I can help in that regard,” replied Gandalf as he used his magic to complete the image. The alcove opened to deposit machinery at our feet. I heard stomping and saw one of the strange robots fire at some debris blocking the way with a concealed laser weapon, then stomping back to a window. Wyldstyle saw some cables on the ground and got an idea.

“Loose cables everywhere?” she muttered. “If we can create a generator, we can power up the base.”

“If this isn’t their base,” gulped Michael, indicating the robots.

“What are you so afraid of?” I asked as we helped Wyldstyle gather materials. “They’re robots. We can take them if they’re hostile!”

“If they were just robots,” replied Michael, “I wouldn’t be so worried.”

“Element of water, Gandalf!” announced Gandalf. He was surrounded in a blue aura and doused the fire on the stairway the robot shot at. He climbed up with Wyldstyle as she opened the windows to reveal a barren, star studded landscape. The surface almost looked lunar. There was a probe next to a platform. Gandalf was about to go outside when I told him that that area had no air. There were areas with an atmosphere, according to the computer terminals I had read, but the area we could immediately see was not one of them. Gandalf had then used his magic to move the probe onto the platform, which moved on tracks to bring the probe inside. Wyldstyle needed it near the alcove, so Gandalf had a solution. “Element of lightning, Richard!” Richard was surrounded by a cyan aura and moved towards an electric coil to bring the probe down. We cannibalized the parts to make a generator and two backups with the cables used to send power.

“Job done,” called Batman. “Now, let’s power this place up!” He flicked a switch on the main generator. An unearthly hum indicated that it was working but needed a little more juice. I saw an electric coil in the alcove and requested the use of lightning from Gandalf.

“Element of lightning, Megumi!” announced Gandalf. I felt a buzz as the cyan aura flowed over me. I fired a lightning bolt at the coil. It fell off a giant version of the full torso unit of those robots. Arms were attached by machines and legs came up from panels in the floor. They attached to the hips. A light in the center came on, showing blue. Again, Stark, sue! A giant head with the same teardrop eyes, single mouth slit, and handles from the ears to the scalp came crawling in on cables that held it up. The cables buried themselves into the neck, completing a giant version of those robots we saw. The eyes and mouth flashed orange and the eyes stayed on. The mouth switched off and only turned on when it spoke in a robotic monotone.

“Upgrade complete,” it boomed. It turned down to look at us. “Organic lifeforms detected,” it observed. The robots then stopped stumbling. They straightened themselves so that the chests were held high and the arms were out, poised and ready for action at a moment’s notice. The feet were shoulder width apart and they stomped with the left foot leading and the knees bending at a 45-degree angle. They marched with purpose until they took their positions. Two of them flanked the doors of the alcove. Two of them guarded a door to a hallway above the alcove. One of them was at an airlock leading to the outside where the probe was. There were two at the door we came through to get here and one at each of the five computer terminals. Two of the robots at the terminals had black handles. The two flanking the giant’s alcove had…an organic brain?! Are these guys just brains in humanoid jars!?

“Hey, check this out!” called Gentarō. He pointed to a tube that suspended 40 switches. A robot at a computer terminal with black handles flicked a switch and opened the tube. The switches were deposited into a black box with an image of their head on it.

“These devices are called Astro-switches,” reported the robot to the giant. “They harness an unknown energy called Cosmic Energy to summon equipment. We can manufacture such a device.”

“Excellent, Cyber-Leader 449,” praised the giant. “And what of the final experiment on the new rebreathers?”

“It is initiating now,” replied the robot that reported, Cyber-Leader 449. At that point, I saw two astronauts stomp outside. What were they doing? They started undoing the locks to their helmets while in an airless environment! I rushed for the airlock, but the robot guarding it stopped me. All Vortex Riders rushed for the airlock but were halted as two robots fired a warning shot.

“Now look,” I hissed to the robot that stopped me, “I don’t know what you’re planning, but those people need to get inside!”

“They will not return inside,” boomed the giant. We all asked various versions of the phrase “why not?” “They are performing the final test for new rebreathers so we can breathe in any environment, even in the vacuum of space,” replied the giant.

“But we have to get them in!” I insisted. I tried to get around the airlock’s guard, but it grabbed my shoulder. They’ve got quite the grip.

“There is really no point,” droned the airlock guard. “The doors will not open until the test is complete.”

“But, don’t you care about those people?!” I shouted.

“‘Care’? No,” replied the giant. “Why should we ‘care’?”

“Because they’re people!” Hongo shouted, “and they’re going to die!”

“I do not understand,” quizzed the giant. “There are people dying all over the universe, yet you do not ‘care’ for them.”

“Test complete,” reported the second Cyber-Leader. We turned to the window to see the astronauts with their helmets off. They had the handles of these robots.

“Bring them inside,” boomed the giant. The airlock guard then released me, turned to the keypad, typed a code at a very fast pace, and opened the outer door. The astronauts marched like the robots into the airlock. The doors then shut to let the inner doors open. They marched inside.

“Upgrade successful,” reported one of the astronauts to the giant.

“Report for complete conversion,” ordered the giant. The astronauts marched to another room. I tried to stop them, but the airlock guard held me back. “You are wondering where you are,” observed the giant. “From the fragments of security footage our cameras picked up, you were left here by the Time Lord known as the Doctor and he did not tell you where you are, is that so?”

“Yes,” I hissed, not even bothering to disguise the newfound contempt I had for these creatures.

“You are one of many fragments of our ancestral home world,” replied the giant. “It is called…”

“Ancestral home-world?” interrupted Michael. “You mean Mondas?!”

“Correct,” confirmed the giant. “You were under the impression that Mondas had vaporized?”

“Yes, that’s what the UNIT files left by the Doctor said,” lied Michael. Good thing he didn’t reveal we were from a different dimension.

“The Doctor is incorrect,” replied the giant. “Mondas simply exploded.”

“What was Mondas like before you came to power?” I asked.

“Eons ago, Mondas was Earth’s twin planet,” relayed the giant. “But the arrival of a new celestial object that became Earth’s moon interfered with the orbit, thus making us drift to the far reaches of space. We had returned to Earth’s orbit to drain its energy, but that was when the Doctor first interfered, thus making our planet explode. Now, we are gathering the fragments of our home and using artificial materials to make a new world. We are 45% completed but will require more fragments to complete the equator and southern hemisphere. If needed, we will extract parts of Earth and take its population to increase our numbers. However, another race is interfering and will stop at nothing to destroy us. We had met a version of our kind from another universe where they came from Earth to become the next level of humanity. They had crossed into our universe and we upgraded each other to take the shape you see before you. That has doubled our efforts, but the work still goes slowly.”

“That still doesn’t answer who or what you are!” cried Sheela.

“They’re called the Cybermen,” explained Michael.

“Cybermen?” I asked.

“Correct,” confirmed the giant Cyberman. “I am one of currently 16 Cyber-Kings. We answer to the Cyber-Planner. These Cyber-Controllers,” he indicated the Cybermen with exposed brains, “answer to me as other Cyber-Controllers answer to the other Cyber-Kings. The Cyber-Leaders answer to the Cyber-Controllers. The Cyber-Deputies answer to the Cyber-Leaders. The rest answer to the Cyber-Deputies. We were like you once, but our scientists realized that our race was getting weak.”

“Weak? How?” asked Gentarō.

“Our life span was getting shorter,” elaborated the Cyber-King. “So, our scientists and doctors created spare parts for us until we could be almost completely replaced.”

“But…that means you’re not even like me!” shouted Hongo. “You’re practically robots!”

“We are cyborgs like yourself,” argued the Cyber-Kings. He must have taken a scan of us. “We just do not have genetic modification. As the Cyber-Controllers can clearly show you, our brains are like yours, except certain weaknesses have been removed.”

“What weaknesses?” asked Irina.

“You don’t consider emotions a weakness, do you?” Mikhail quizzed.

“Emotions are a weakness that must be removed,” replied the Cyber-King. “We are doing organic life a favor by doing so.”

“That’s awful!” I shouted. “You mean, you wouldn’t care if someone was in pain?!”

“There would be no need,” answered the Cyber-King. “We do not feel pain.”

“We do!” I yelled.

“That will be changed when you are converted,” boomed the Cyber-King. “You will become like us.” That concluded negotiations as I grabbed a pole and drove it into the head of a Cyber-Controller. It fell with a loud death rattle.

“Judging by her actions,” said Batman, “I don’t think so.”

“Hostility detected,” answered the Cyber-King. “Failure to comply with upgrading is not an option.”

“It is for us!” called Gentarō as he put the Fourze Driver to his waist. It formed a belt strap on its own. Gentarō then split the case in half and attached each half to the sides of his belt. He pulled out four Astro-switches. They were of different colors and numbers. Number 1 was orange, number 2 was blue, number 3 was yellow, and number 4 was black. Gentarō inserted the switches right to left from 1 to 4 as the belt announced what the switches were.

“Rocket! Launcher! Drill! Radar!” announced the Driver. He then flicked the tab switches down. Hongo struck his initial henshin pose as we got out our i.d tags. “3! 2! 1!” said an electronic countdown from Gentarō’s belt. While that went on, he struck a pose that had his left foot forward, his left hand across his front, and his right hand on the handle.

“Rider…!” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all shouted We all transformed and got ready for battle. Gentarō’s Rider form looked like it was made from the material needed for an astronaut’s suit and had a conical helmet with a black diamond in the middle with orange insect eyes and a pair of small antennae. He had gauntlets around his wrists and ankles. The right arm had an orange circle on its gauntlet, the right leg had a blue X shape on its gauntlet, the left leg had a yellow triangle on its gauntlet, and the left arm had a black square on its gauntlet. He looked almost like a space shuttle. Gentarō crouched down.

“Uchū…” he began before popping back up and spreading his limbs out, “KITĀĀĀĀĀ!” (Space is here!)

“Fourze kitā!” (Fourze is here!) cheered Sengoku.

“Fourze?” I asked. I turned to the new Rider. “That’s your Rider name? Fourze?”

“That’s right!” confirmed Fourze. He turned to the Cyber-King “Kamen Rider Fourze! Taiman harasete morau ze!” (Let’s settle this man-to-man!)

“You will not escape,” boomed The Cyber-King as more Cybermen entered the room. “We knew that somebody like you would come here. Now you must be upgraded.” We started attacking the Cybermen, but they anticipated our moves. I then decided to slap my Cyberman. It titled its head as if it were trying to process what I was trying to accomplish.

“There is no logic in your actions,” it observed. “We can introduce that into your brain when you are upgraded.”

“Oh, but there IS logic to that slap,” I argued. I held up the new i.d tag. “Check this out!” I did the i.d swap and summoned the wardrobe.

“Cyberman Steel!” announced my belt. Apropos, given what it was made of. The new armor had the handles of the Cyberman’s head. I had the blaster out and had the boots on as well as the chest unit. Tony, I take it back, don’t sue! I fired on my Cyberman right in the chest unit.

“Cyberman firepower is being used against us!” reported a Cyber-Leader. “Unable to upgrade!” The rest of my people go the idea and activated their own Cyberman Steel. That was the final straw as the number of Cybermen went down.

“They are incompatible!” boomed the Cyber-King. “Delete! Delete! Delete!”

“What does that mean?!” quizzed Fourze.

“It means they’re going to kill us instead of upgrade us!” yelped Battle.

“You know,” mused Fourze, “I think I have an idea!” He took out the Rocket and Radar switches and took a cellphone out with a red front with an N and a blue bottom with an S. Both ends had a switch on each end. Fourze opened the phone and split it in half. He inserted the red switch into the right arm slot.

“N Magnet!” announced the belt. Fourze then put the blue end into the left arm slot. “S Magnet!” He then pressed a button on the switches where the phone halves were. “N/S! Magnet on!” called the belt. Machinery appeared, resting on Fourze’s shoulders. It had a twin barreled gun on the back and a helmet that went over the head with Fourze’s antennae and eyes on it.

“Fourze, Magnet states!” announced Fourze. He grabbed the phone halves and pressed concealed buttons on them, firing magnetic bursts at the Cybermen.

“Alert! Alert! Cannot upgrade! Cannot Upgrade!” cried a Cyberman.

“Let’s see,” muttered Fourze, “let’s have you guys on your king’s arm!” He moved the Cybermen and magnetized them to the left arm of the Cyber-King. The weight brought it down to our level. We soon used the strength of our Cyberman Steel and ripped the arm off.

“What is the meaning of this?!” boomed the Cyber-King. “Your species belongs to us! Your species will become like us!” More Cybermen marched in. “Delete! Delete! Hostiles will be deleted! Delete the rogue elements! Delete!”

“We get it!” called Fourze. “You want to kill us!”

“Those who are not compatible for upgrade will be deleted,” droned a Cyberman before Fourze tried the same trick again.

“You are incompatible! Delete! Delete!” boomed the Cyber-King.

“Would you just shut up!” I shouted as I touched Fourze, gaining his i.d tag and swapping it out with the one I was using. I selected the magnet states.

“Fourze Magnet States Steel!” announced my belt.

“N/S Magnet on!” called the voice of Fourze’s belt. I had gained the same magnetic shooter backpack and almost fell over.

“How do you walk around in this thing?!” I yelped.

“It’s meant to be stationary,” explained Fourze. I then regained balance and helped Fourze as I mimed pulling the triggers on the handles. We sent the Cybermen onto the Cyber-King’s remaining arm. We then tore that thing apart!

“NO!” it defied. “You will perish under maximum deletion!” It started sparking. “Upgrade process is…FAILING?! What have you done?! This is not possible! The Cybermen are superior! We are the Cybermen, and you are inferior!”

“We have it on the ropes!” I called.

“Allow me!” replied Fourze. He pulled the handle on the side of his belt. Three klaxon alarms sounded.

“Limit Break!” announced the belt.

“Rider Super Electromagnetic Bomber!” shouted Fourze. He flipped the cover off the red phone half and pressed the button. The guns on the back came off and united in front of him in the shape of a u-shaped magnet. The new weapon fired as a railgun would and destroyed the torso and legs. All that was left was the head. It removed itself from the remains and scurried up the stairs into the hallway above its alcove. The vortex riders returned to their original form, while Fourze returned to Gentarō. We pursued it with Cybermen coming out of the walls, literally! The Cyber-King’s entered a room then shut the door as it entered a hallway. We couldn’t near enough to the keypad as the Cybermen swarmed us. We were starting to tire out!

“Anyone have a plan?!” I asked. Then I noticed one of the enemy’s numbers waved at us. “What the?” A Cyberman caught it.

“Explain your actions,” it quizzed. “It does nothing to delete these rogue elements.”

“What, myself included?” it asked in a synthesized man’s voice. Wait, what?!

“What is the meaning of this?!” asked a Cyber-Leader.

“Sorry, old chaps,” replied the rogue Cyberman, “but these people must pursue the Cyber-King.” It then fired on the rest of the Cybermen!

“Rogue unit detected!” reported the Cyber-Leader. “Delete! Delete!”

“Quickly!” called the rogue Cyberman as it opened the door. “Through here!” We entered the door with the Cyberman behind us. We escaped and got out into an area with air. We released our transformations and started catching our breath. This dimension had a lot of running involved.


	15. Chapter 15

Dear Lord, can this day…no, shouldn’t even think that. The multiverse has creative ways of making it worse. First, we end up in a rift loop, then we get a headache from a lecture of the bootstrap paradox, then we end up in a base of more elegant looking Borg, and now we’re catching our breath in a graveyard, trying to pursue a giant head with an emotionless brain inside. Oh yeah, and one of the elegant Borg, the Cybermen, as they call themselves, helped us out and we met another Kamen Rider with a space shuttle motif. The Cyberman that helped us came to me. “Are you all right, young lady?” he asked in that same synthesized man’s voice that changed tone and showed emotion.

“Not really,” I answered. “I’m still reeling from that chase your people gave us. Why were they trying to kill you, anyways?”

“One,” argued the Cyberman, “they’re not my people, humanity is. Two, they don’t like individuals. You probably heard them say we’ll be like them.”

“I’d rather not,” muttered Gentarō.

“Do you have a name?” I asked.

“You might not know it, but I used to a part of the United Nations Intelligence Task force, UNIT for short,” explained the Cyberman. “Nowadays, in this time, the year 2487, I lead the Unified Nebular Intelligence Task force.”

“Ah, UNIT becomes a space army!” cheered Michael.

“It was around 2342,” continued the Cyberman. “They even let me keep my old title of Brigadier and my old codename of Greyhound One, head of my personal unit in UNIT, the Growling Greyhounds.”

“Wait,” interrupted Michael, “were you knighted for your service in the early 2000’s?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” confirmed the Cyberman. “Why? Do you know me?”

“In my world, you and your adventures with the Doctor were a work of fiction,” replied Michael.

“Then tell me, what was my wish and was it fulfilled?” asked the Cyberman.

“Your wish was to see your old friend and scientific advisor, the Doctor from Gallifrey, salute you,” explained Michael. “It was fulfilled as you took off to the skies into parts unknown. Your cybernization happened after you had died in bed. A female form of a rival of yours, the Master, now calling himself Missy and preferring female pronouns, had taken the dead of earth and made them into Cybermen. You had kept your emotions as well as a soldier called Danny Pink, who commanded the Cybermen there to self-destruct. You then saved the Doctor the trouble of shooting Missy by doing so yourself, although she survived.”

“What?!” snapped the Cyberman. “Even after she got rid of that absurd beard, she still slips away!”

“You can get her later,” assured Michael. He then turned to the rest of us. “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.”

“I AM a Brigadier again,” explained Lethbridge-Stewart as he put on decorations signifying his rank, even a metal hat. “You can call me as such.” We then explained our backstories to the Brigadier. It took a while to take in for the man, but he got the idea of the situation.

“Very well, Brigadier,” answered Michael. “Shall we pursue the Cyber-King?”

“Yeah, pursue a head through a creepy graveyard,” I moaned.

“Let’s hope the dead do not rise on this surface,” muttered Gandalf. We got up and started opening a rusty gate. A Keystone transmitter was beyond the gate. The red chroma disc was also located, but we need to release it from its prison and find the others. As we approached an area that looked like a seed was coming out, a Cyberman stomped towards us. The Brigadier dispatched it easily. “My thanks,” reciprocated Gandalf. “Let’s see, Element of earth, Brigadier!” A green aura surrounded the Brigadier.

“What on Earth?” he yelped.

“Hold your hands together and point them at the seedling,” instructed Gandalf. The Brigadier stared at the wizard for a second, then he did as instructed. The seedling moved and sprouted two platforms and a mound of earth popped up with a boulder on top. “A curious arrangement,” mused Gandalf. He used his magic to jostle the boulder out of the mound, rather explosively. It sailed towards the crypt the Cyber-King was trying to hide on and chased it away to another base. Meanwhile, Gandalf had managed to calm the mini-volcano down and jumped on the next platform to the entrance of the crypt. The Brigadier followed. “Element of water, Gandalf!” called the wizard. As the blue aura surrounded him, Gandalf doused the flames to reveal a Chroma Lock design. The left L shape was blue, the circle was yellow, and the right L shape was red. Wyldstyle had managed to jimmy the lock surrounding the red chroma disc. A statue near us fell, revealing more Cybermen. Gandalf used his magic to throw rocks at their heads and knock them inoperable. He then started a search for the rest of the chroma discs.

“Gandalf, old chap,” called the Brigadier, “I believe what you’re looking for is under that grave.” Gandalf saw the grave Lethbridge-Stewart was talking about.

“I believe this will take more than an Elvish incantation to solve,” muttered the wizard.

“Let us help,” I answered. Lukas, Emily, and I got out our i.d tags.

“Henshin!” we announced. As we became our Rider selves, we swapped out our i.d tags for Gandalf’s.

“Gandalf Steel!” called our belts. Once the wardrobe dissolved, Lethbridge-Stewart rubbed his eyes.

“This is something the Doctor would appreciate,” mused the Brigadier. We then helped Gandalf with lifting the grave out and revealing the yellow chroma disc.

“Gandalf,” I called, “I believe that the statue the Cybermen knocked over could help us, if we can get it upright.”

“I do believe you’re right!” replied Gandalf. He, Kämpfer, Touché, and I got to work and set the statue upright. It was too high for us to reach, but Hongo and Wyldstyle got up easily. There was a dark area.

“Hongo, did you bring a flashlight?” asked Wyldstyle.

“I thought you did,” replied Hongo.

“Looks like we need to bring Gandalf up here,” muttered Wyldstyle.

“How?” asked Hongo.

“Let’s just say I can see a way,” answered Wyldstyle. She then used the debris where they were to build a small UFO. It hovered over Gandalf, brought him up using a tractor beam, set him down where Hongo and Wyldstyle were, and then whizzed off into a wall, exploding into a dozen or so pieces. Gandalf then lit up the dark area and brought out the blue chroma disc. “That’s all of them!” cheered Wyldstyle. “Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal! Chroma! Blue! Gandalf!” Gandalf jumped into the blue paint and landed on the left L shape. “Chroma! Red! Royal!” I headed to the red paint, jumped in it, and landed in the shape next to Gandalf. “Chroma! Yellow! Brigadier!” The Brigadier jumped in as we did and landed in the circle. As the Brigadier admired his paint job, the lock design in the crypt made its surroundings shimmer and fade. The tombstones, the gate, the crypt, the creepy gate guarding the base on the other side of the graveyard, it all faded to reveal a hologram projector. “What?!” said Wyldstyle. “This whole thing was just a hologram?! I can’t help but notice that those statues are still here though.”

“Statues?” gulped Michael, a little worried.

“What, is there a…wait, Joshua, where are you?” I called. Our strong, silent Australian wasn’t with us. We started calling out his name. A horrible thought struck me. If we left him in the Cybermen’s base, oh please tell me that’s not true!

“Someone call?” shuddered a voice. The Australian accent made me breathe easy. We turned to see Joshua looking a little pale. I told everyone else to stay put as Emily and I ran up to him.

“Josh, are you alright?” Emily asked.

“Not particularly,” he answered. “Meg, Em, what are we doing?”

“I’m…not sure I understand,” I replied, flinching at being called ‘Meg’.

“What are we doing running around the dimensions?” asked Joshua. “We’re a pack of nerds! We’re activists of basic human rights, be they for gay rights, race rights, gender rights, or educational rights! We dress up for fun! We’re not warriors! We should be critiquing plot lines of our favorite shows, not be a part of one big plot that spans other universes! We don’t even know why we’re fighting Vortech! We don’t know how to beat him, much less stand against him! All we know is that he’s gathering artefacts to make universes collide! We don’t even know if there’s one of those artefacts in our universe and if our parents have it in their possession! I…” I noticed that his right hand was shaking. “This hand has been shaking ever since our belts came to our dimension. I’m scared and I hate myself for feeling it! Part of me is screaming that my routine has been irreparably disturbed, and routine is BIG for autistic people like myself! The other part is sure that even neurotypicals would feel the same! All parts are asking why we’re the ones who are saving the multiverse!” He then shook his head. “Sorry, I just feel…”

“No worries,” Emily assured him. “We’ve all had a long day.”

“If this is taking its toll on you,” I said softly, “you could return to our universe. We could have the gateway return you home and no one will think ill of you for it.”

“I can’t do that,” argued Joshua. “My dad needs help. When people need my help, I can’t just rest easy. I’ve only lasted so long because I’ve put my energy into trying to get some answers about this mess.”

“When we get back to Vorton,” I replied, “I promise we’ll get some answers. We may not get all the answers, but we can get some.”

“You promise?” asked Joshua.

“I promise on my honor as the reigning monarch of the Feudal Nerd Society,” I swore. Joshua smiled. When I make an oath like that, it means that I will see that oath through to the end. Josh looked at his hand. It stopped shaking.

“Thank you,” said Joshua, “for everything.” He got up. “Let’s go rejoin the others.” He walked to rejoin the rest with Emily and I high-fiving each other. Score one for the princess and medic. When we reunited, we headed to the other Cyber-base and opened the doors. Well, the Brigadier did. We couldn't get the terminal that operates the door to work, so we needed a Cyberman's key code

“So, Brigadier, what should we expect?” asked Michael.

“Nothing, if we’re lucky,” replied the Brigadier. “The Cybermen cleared this area out about five years ago. The team that was sent to retrieve any and all machinery that was labeled sensitive disappeared though. The three investigative teams did the same when they tried to retrieve the retrieval team, so the Cyber-King we’re after declared it unsafe and warned the rest of New Mondas to stay away.”

“Creepy,” gulped Sheela. Then our vision went dim with the lights.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” called Batman.

“Everyone still alive?” asked Michael. We all responded with a confused tone. “Okay, no psycho Vashta Nerada, then.”

“Va-what?” I muttered.

“Microscopic organisms that live in the darkness,” explained Michael. “They’ve been given the name Piranhas of the Air. They tend to eat meat and will strip their prey down to the bone, literally.”

“And, there might be some here?” gulped Joshua.

“None of the psycho kind,” assured Michael. “They would have to be starving or driven mad before they attack humans.”

“And given that we’re all alive,” guessed Gandalf, “I’d say we’re safe from these beasts.”

“Exactly,” confirmed Michael.

“Even so,” rasped Batman, “given that danger could be in the next steps we take, anything could jump out of the shadows. Be on your guard.” We tensed up and got into defensive stances. What I saw were statues.

“More statues?” I quizzed. These statues looked like human-sized angels covering their faces as if they were crying. “They look kind of lonely.” I said, taking pity.

“If they’re alive,” gulped Michael, “then their title ‘The Lonely Assassins’ is apropos.”

“Michael, you’ve said nothing but doom and gloom since we got here!” I snapped. “What’s dangerous about a statue?”

“ _Doctor Who_ has an innate ability of turning something as harmless as a window dummy into a killer!” protested Michael.

“Don’t remind me,” muttered the Brigadier.

“Evil shop dummies?” quizzed Gentarō. “That’s a new one.”

“Guys,” called Wyldstyle, “I think I see some batteries to help with the lights!” There were three on the floor and we could see the slots above us that they would fit in. Gandalf put one in. The lights flickered. When they came back on, the statues were looking at us!

“Michael,” I gulped, “what are these things?”

“They’re called the Weeping Angels!” explained Michael. “They’re a race of quantum locked humanoids that only move when no one, not even members of their own species, is looking at them! The only defense is not to blink! Once they touch you, you are sent into the past and will live out the rest of your life there, losing all motivation to get back! The Angels feed off the residual time energy the displacement causes!”

“Nobody blink!” I commanded. “Surround Gandalf as he puts the batteries in!” As Gandalf put the remaining batteries in, the lights flickered to reveal the expressions on the Angels change to a vicious roaring face with clawed fingers and sharp teeth. Gandalf had put the last battery in and the lights gained that much more power but were on a continual flicker loop!

“The statues are chasing us!” yelped Wyldstyle. “And the flickering lights aren’t helping!”

“Chaps,” called the Brigadier, “the doors here are magna-sealed! I can’t get them open!”

“That terminal looks like it powers the door,” observed Batman. “We need to charge it up with that battery near it.” It was a square like battery with wheels on the bottom.

“Problem, we need to charge it!” wailed Michael.

“Let me do that,” called Wyldstyle. “Bring it over here!”

“Surround the battery!” I ordered. “Keep an eye on the Angels!” We moved with the battery so the ones pushing it won’t get caught. The flickering lights made me nervous. While we were moving, Wyldstyle had built a charger and plugged it into the battery once it was finished. It didn’t take long to charge, but an Angel was about to grab my face when we started moving again! We got the battery to the terminal near the door. The Brigadier typed in a code and got it open.

“Quickly!” he shouted. “This way!” We got into the next room and shut the door.

“What did I tell you?” snapped Michael.

“If the Cybermen that were sent here to get sensitive equipment were taken into the past,” guessed the Brigadier, “then they may face a foe greater than the Doctor.”

“We need to go deeper into the base,” I muttered. “Wyldstyle, can you find the Keystone?”

“It’s past the doors in the next room,” reported Wyldstyle, “but we need to get past the security cameras. That panel over there should turn them off.”

“Allow me,” said Gentarō. He then took out the Fourze Driver and put it on. He swapped the Launcher switch with Switch number 21.

“Stealth!” called the Driver. He then flipped the tab switches and got into his Henshin pose. “Three! Two! One!”

“Henshin!” announced Gentarō. He pulled the lever and transformed into Fourze. “Uchū KITĀĀĀĀĀ!”

“Must you do that?” asked Hongo.

“If you don’t shout about things that are awesome,” quizzed Fourze, “how can you enjoy them?” He flipped the stealth switch on.

“Stealth on!” announced the Driver. A device appeared on Fourze’s right leg that was shaped like an F-117 Nighthawk. He stomped it and turned invisible. It took five seconds for him to run into the room and pull a lever on the terminal that deactivated the cameras and opened the door. Hongo shook his head.

“I swear, I’ll never understand the Heisei Riders,” he muttered.

“We got the door open,” I mused, “I see no reason to complain.” That soon changed when the door started shutting and opening on its own accord. Gandalf forced them open with his magic. “Thank you,” I said as I curtsied. We went into a hallway which had flickering lights and more Angels! Forget walking, we ran! As we approached an open door, we saw the Cyber-King scuttle off into another hallway. We shut the door. Sadly, there were Angels there as well. The lights were stable, thank goodness. We tried to open the door the Cyber-King had shut, but it was locked. I then saw a battery up on the ceiling. Fans were keeping it up there. I got an idea. “Find a Keystone transmitter!” I directed. “Batman can use it to warp someone up there!”

“Good idea!” responded Batman. We got to searching. As he searched, Richard had a bit of trouble.

“I can’t find it anywhere!” he snapped as he leaned on a control panel. It had a long lever that was pushed up when he leaned on it. It snapped. I just gave him a look. The lights flickered, letting the Angels move!

“Found it!” called Michael.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Magenta, near the battery on the ceiling! Yellow, in the control room on the ceiling! Cyan, near the transmitter!” The portals were placed. “Shift! Yellow! Hongo!” Hongo was to turn the fans when the battery approached them. “Shift! Fourze! Magenta!” Fourze pushed the battery towards the dock it needed to go into with Hongo helping him. You would think that the Angels would use this time to attack us, but they were looking up once the lights flickered again, looking confused. The next flicker, they started forming a ladder. Fourze inserted the battery into the slot, letting the door open. “Shift! Hongo! Fourze! Cyan!” They returned to normal ground. We escaped that place quickly. We entered a crossroads but found them blocked by Weeping Angels.

“Oh boy,” I gulped.

“What a way to go,” wailed Xiomara.

“Maybe not,” observed Batman. He pointed to a control panel and then pointed to the floor.

“You’re not suggesting dropping us through the floor, are you?!” asked Michael. Batman threw a batarang at the panel, opening the floor beneath us. The Angels were now frozen where they were, forever.

While we were falling, the Cyber-King was trying to get some machines to work. We ended up landing on top of the Cyber-King, taking it offline for a bit. We got up and investigated the machines. They looked like they traveled on some sort of bump studded skirt with a mid-section holding an egg whisk on its left and a toilet plunger on its right. It had a pair of lights on its dome as well as a spherical thing on a stick with discs behind the sphere. “Whoa,” quizzed Wyldstyle. “What are they?” She slammed her fist on one of the machines. It echoed.

“I don’t know,” answered Batman.

“At least they aren’t those statues,” mused Gandalf.

“No, they’re worse than the Weeping Angels,” moaned Michael.

“How bad are they?” I asked.

“Take any sort of hate group,” hissed Michael, “like the Klan, or the Nazis, or any such group, liquefy its flesh, remove all feelings except hatred for other life forms, and slap it into a tank!”

“That’s how bad they are?” I gulped.

“No, they’re a thousand times worse,” elaborated Michael.

“Guys,” called Fourze as he transformed back, “I think I found something!” he pointed to a terminal with a screen. I pressed a button to play some security footage. The image was of a bunch of soldiers, some in white conical hats while the others had the Swastika, burst into the room. The leaders stepped forward to one of the things.

“I am General Thomas of the Neo Klan,” introduced the person in the white conical hat. “This is General Richard of the Nova Nazis. We have reactivated you so you can help us clean our people.” The creature he was addressing just stared as its sphere illuminated blue, confirming that the sphere was some sort of camera for the thing inside. “We need your power,” elaborated Thomas. “You need our resources. Are you listening? Do you understand? Now that we have freed you, you must help us.”

“We do not take orders from inferior life forms!” screamed the creature in a grating, harsh, metallic tone that crescendoed. The lights on the dome flashed with each syllable. “You are impure! Exterminate!” The whisk turned out to be a laser gun as it fired blue bolts of energy at the soldiers, who turned into green x-rays before slumping over, dead.

“Good Grief!” swore the Brigadier as he watched the creatures slaughter the combined hate groups. “Even I wouldn’t wish such a fate on these chaps!”

“Given that the Ku Klux Klan has been the bane of Mom’s Southern roots,” hissed Emily, “I can’t find any sympathy.”

“Neither can I for the Nazis,” growled Lukas.

“What does that laser do?” I asked.

“Massive internal displacement,” muttered Michael.

“Meaning?” I quizzed.

“The insides are scrambled,” explained Michael. “Some would say it’s like being hit by lightning, while others say it’s like a burn, given that some victims were charred.”

“I set you free!” begged Thomas from the recording, the last survivor. “We planned this!”

“Your attempt at control is noted,” screeched the creature, “but humans cannot control the Daleks! You are nothing more than organic refuse! Exterminate!” He was gunned down and fell over the edge. The Dalek, as the creature called its species, then shut down.

“Reactivating! Reactivating!” rumbled a Dalek from behind us. It twitched as it examined us. “Hostiles located! Do not move!”

“Who, us?” asked Wyldstyle. “We’re not hostile, we’re friends of the Doctor!”

“WYLDSTYLE, THAT’S THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD SAY TO THEM!” yelled Michael. All Daleks then turned towards us.

“The Doctor must be exterminated!” screamed one Dalek.

“Well, more like acquaintances, really,” stammered Wyldstyle, digging us deeper. “I didn’t mean ‘friend’.”

“Wyldstyle, button it!” I demanded.

“Daleks conquer and destroy!” squawked another Dalek.

“You will be exterminated!” screeched a third.

“Obey the Daleks!”

“Locate the Doctor!”

“Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!”

“We are the supreme beings!”

“Enemies of the Daleks will be exterminated!”

“Do not move!”

“Silence,” boomed a deep Dalek voice. We all turned to see a giant Dalek dome with a tube of liquid holding a blob of flesh (Yuck!) with tentacles, a visible brain, and a single yellow eye, and giant panels extending from the tube hover in with red and black Daleks. Apparently, these things can fly. One of the brownish gray Daleks on the ground zoomed in, distracted in a rant.

“That is why I want to be a red Dalek…” its peers were looking at it, giving it the stink eye. “…Sorry,” it mumbled. Michael smirked. I guess Daleks don’t usually mumble.

“Am I addressing the Dalek Emperor?” asked the Brigadier to the giant Dalek as he put his arms behind his back.

“Correct, but you are not displaying usual Cyberman behavior,” observed the Dalek Emperor.

“I am Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart of the Unified Nebular Intelligence Task force!” snapped the Brigadier. “I demand to know why you are engaged with the Cybermen as they rebuild their home world! Be warned, for failure to comply will result in Alexandra Jones, card carrying Prime Minister of Nova Britain…”

“Yes, we know who Alexandra Jones is,” interrupted the Dalek Emperor. “Her ancestor, Harriet Jones, displayed such an annoyance when we took Earth into the Medusa Cascade. We will tell you nothing of our project. You, on the other hand, will tell us everything you know about the Doctor’s plans. You have been identified as one of the Doctor’s oldest ‘friends’, Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. We shall interrogate you first!”

“To be honest, we don’t really know anything,” replied Gandalf.

“Then you will be exterminated!” boomed the Emperor.

“Guys, look! A Keystone!” called Michael. The Emperor had a Keystone that had one small green circle on top of a large white one and both circles connected by two lines with broken sections in between.

“What can that thing do?” asked Wyldstyle.

“Initiating scaling stratagem!” called the Emperor.

“I think we’re about to find out,” guessed Batman.

“Enlarge scale of Dalek Lieutenant!” announced the Emperor. A Dalek became a giant at least half the size of the Emperor. “Protect the Keystone! Exterminate hostile life forms!”

“I obey!” obliged the giant Dalek.

“No!” countered a Dalek as it fired on the giant. The laser bounced off harmlessly, but the Emperor didn’t like that.

“Explain! Explain!! EXPLAIN!!!” it shouted at the traitor.

“All Daleks must be exterminated!” replied the renegade Dalek.

“Rusty, old chap!” cheered the Brigadier.

“Rusty? The one that the Doctor converted to the side of the humans?” called Michael, grinning.

“Correct!” confirmed Rusty. “Initiating anti-weapons field!” A dome of light surrounded us. “You may transform without the risk of extermination!”

“Very kind of you, Rusty-san,” I replied. “Arigatou.” (short thank you)

“Dōitashimashite,” (you’re welcome) responded Rusty. I grinned as the Vortex riders took out our i.d tags, Gentarō took out the Fourze Driver, and Hongo struck his pose. Gentarō then flipped the tab switches and struck his pose.

“Three! Two! One!” counted the Fourze Driver.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we shouted. We transformed into our Rider forms.

“Uchū KITĀĀĀĀĀ!” said Fourze.

“Explain this behavior!” said the Emperor.

“Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“Kamen Rider Fourze! Taiman harasete morau ze!”

“I am Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart! For the sake of humanity, I shall bring the whole of UNIT down on your heads!”

“I am Rusty the Dalek, head of UNIT's Extraterrestrial Branches! All evil will fall at my manipulator arm!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“EXTERMINATE THEM!” bellowed the Emperor. The giant Dalek hovered over us with its gunstick trained on us.

“Maximum extermination!” it announced. We dodged its laser blasts. The Emperor decided to talk at that time.

“You will tell us the location of the Doctor, or you will be destroyed!” it ordered. “You are no match for the power of the Daleks! Cease your attempts to stop us!”

“You know, _The Power of the Daleks_ was what we call the adventure the second Doctor had when you lot tried to fool a human colony so you could destroy it,” called Battle. The laser blasts the giant Dalek had fired had exposed some machinery.

“You will bear witness to our true power as the supreme beings!” boomed the Emperor.

“Daleks may conquer and destroy,” intoned Rusty, “but I conquer and destroy the Daleks!”

“Guys, keep me covered!” called Wyldstyle. She’s got a Master Build up her sleeves, I just know it! Fourze then swapped out the Drill switch with switch number 19.

“Gatling!” announced the driver. Fourze then flipped the switch on. “Gatling on!” A Gatling gun appeared on his left leg as he fired 10 rounds per second at the Dalek. The rounds bounced off.

“Eh?” yelped Fourze. “It usually pierces concrete!”

“Dalekanium is 10 times stronger than steel!” explained Battle.

“‘Dalekanium’?” I said. I’d laugh if the situation wasn’t tense. Wyldstyle, meanwhile, had constructed a giant remote controller with two joysticks.

“Gandalf, lift it up and move the joysticks!” directed Wyldstyle.

“At once!” called Gandalf. The Vortex riders converted their weapons to ranged mode and gave the wizard covering fire. Wyldstyle had programmed it to mess with the giant Dalek!

“My controls are being overridden! Weapons malfunction?! HELP MEEEEEE!” it shouted. Gandalf sent the giant Dalek into the Emperor. It started changing size rapidly.

“Alert! Alert! I am under attack!” it yelled. As the Emperor changed size, we just shrank! “Keystone malfunctioning! HELP MEEEEEE!” squawked the Emperor.

“System malfunction!” screamed a Dalek. “Critical damage detected!”

“Fourze, the eyestalk is the weak point!” called Battle. “Do you have something to damage it?”

“Not at this size, but the pen switch may cover it,” replied Fourze.

“Pen switch?” I asked.

“When it’s on,” replied Sengoku, “Fourze can use the pen module that attaches to his right leg to draw things that solidify into pure carbon.”

“Then use it to blind a Dalek!” called Battle.

“Got it!” confirmed Fourze. He swapped out the stealth switch for switch 25.

“Pen!” announced the Driver. Switch on! “Pen on!” Fourze jumped up and used a booster pack on his back to reach the eyestalk. He quickly coated the blue light until it was completely black.

“My vision is impaired! I cannot see!” squawked the Dalek. It started freaking out and fired on other Daleks. Rusty shot the Dalek’s undercarriage and blew it up. Soon, everything went back to its normal size.

“Hostility will not be tolerated!” boomed the Emperor. “Enlarge scale of Dalek Supreme!” A black Dalek grew. “Exterminate!” ordered the Emperor.

“I obey!” confirmed the giant Dalek Supreme. It hovered over us and spoke as it fired. “The Keystone will demonstrate the might of the Dalek race!”

“ _Might of the Daleks_ ,” muttered Outback as he dodged a shot. “The BBC should use that!”

“No!” argued Battle as he plunged his blade into a normal sized Dalek. “Any episode title with the structure of _Thingy of the Wossname_ is a bad episode!”

“Even _Resurrection of the Daleks_?” countered Outback.

“Can we talk about this later?!” I interrupted. The shot I dodged had revealed an electric coil.

“You are prisoners of the Daleks now!” boasted the Emperor. “You will obey or you will be exterminated!”

“Would you actually try!” I taunted. Wyldstyle built a radio with the electric coil attached.

“Daleks do not take orders from lower life forms!” boomed the Emperor. “The Doctor’s associates will be exterminated!”

“Guys, where’s the Keystone transmitter?” asked Touché.

“Oh dear,” gulped Gandalf. “I can’t give anyone lighting powers without it!”

“If it’s electricity you want,” replied Fourze, “I have a switch for that!” He took out both magnet switches and inserted switch 10 where the N magnet was and switch 11 where the S magnet was.

“Elec!” announced the Driver for switch 10. “Scissors!” it said for switch 11. He switched Elec on. “Elec on!” Yellow lightning surrounded Fourze while metal circles with black rubber appeared. The circles attached to Fourze’s chest while his whole body gained a yellow and black lightning motif. His eyes turned blue and a stun rod with three plug sockets on the cross guard and a cord with a plug at the bottom of the handle appeared in his hand.

“Fourze Elec states!” called Sengoku. “And the form’s main weapon, the Elec Module Billy the Rod!”

“Billy the Rod?!” I snickered, holding back laughter. Fourze then plugged the plug into the top socket. He then took out the Elec switch and put it into the rod’s base.

“Limit break!” called the weapon.

“Rider Ten Billion Volt Shoot!” announced Fourze. He slashed at the air which caused an arc of electricity to rush towards the coil. The radio soon got enough charge to play some strange music. It sounded alien, like it was played in the 60’s for an old show for a while. The giant Dalek Supreme then started losing control.

“What is this noise?!” it screamed. “Make it stop! MAKE IT STOOOOPPPPPPPPP!”

“The first Doctor’s theme!” cheered Battle. “The radio is playing the first iteration of the Doctor Who theme that played on November 22nd, 1963!”

“The day Kennedy was assassinated!” remembered Guard.

“Looks like these hateful things don’t like good music!” quipped Battle. The Giant Dalek Supreme crashed into the Emperor.

“Under attack! Under attack!!” it squawked as it started shifting size again. This time, we grew! We stomped around, crushing Daleks without any fancy moves.

“Whoever uses this thing is gonna enjoy this!” I cheered. I then inspected the bottom of my boots. “Ew! I think there’s something in these things!” I whined as I wiped bits of something gooey off the boots.

“That would be the organic occupants of these things,” explained Battle as he kicked a few away.

“Disgusting!” I groaned.

“No!” shouted the Emperor. “This cannot be!! THIS CANNOT BE!! EXPLAIIN! EXPLLAAAAAIIIIN!!!”

“Classic villain trope!” I laughed. “Next thing you know, you’ll be saying that you’re immortal!”

“Its predecessor already did!” called Battle. Then the Emperor regained control over the Keystone.

“Bring forth more Daleks!” it ordered. A new Dalek came up. It had just a dome and a giant cannon on the front.

“A Special Weapons Dalek?!” yelped Battle.

“Enlarge scale of Special Weapons Dalek!” ordered the Emperor. It swiveled its dome around to address the rest of the Daleks. “My brethren, you must exterminate these intruders!” The giant Special Weapons Dalek fired on us. Its shots were even more devastating than the normal Daleks’ guns.

“We have to get the Keystone away from the Emperor!” called Rusty.

“The Keystone belongs to us!” boomed the Emperor. Burning debris fell as the Special Weapons Dalek fired. Another shot revealed the Keystone transmitter.

“Gandalf, I think I should be using water since Fourze is in a form that doesn’t really work well with water,” I called.

“Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of water, Royal!” announced Gandalf. As I doused the debris, the Emperor spoke.

“Secure the unlimited rice pudding!” Wait, what? The Emperor realized what it had said. “Alert! Alert! Vocabulary bank malfunction!”

“You need to update your anti-virus software!” observed Rusty. His plunger arm was in a terminal that connected to the Emperor. Wyldstyle got an idea. She constructed a bomb launcher and made a special connection for Rusty.

“Rusty, want to fire a catapult at a Dalek?” she asked.

“With pleasure!” cheered Rusty as he saw the payload. He connected and calculated the arc the bomb needed to go to hit the Special Weapons Dalek. “Initiating launch!” The catapult launched the bomb at the Special Weapons Dalek. The bomb attached and made warning noises.

“Emergency! Emergency!” yelped the Special Weapons Dalek. It exploded.

“What is the meaning of this?!” demanded the Emperor. “Failure is not in Dalek nature!!”

“Oh, yes, it is!” said the Brigadier. He and Wyldstyle used the remains of the Special Weapons Dalek, bar the gooey bits, to construct a cannon. The Brigadier fired it at the Emperor.

“What is happening to me!” it screamed as it started rapidly shifting size again. Wyldstyle took advantage to construct something that looked like an old telephone.

“Gandalf, raise the top part!” called Wyldstyle. “Rusty, connect with the phone and dial this number! We need his help!”

“At once!” confirmed Gandalf.

“I obey!” obliged Rusty. Gandalf lifted the giant handset while Rusty plugged in and dialed the number Wyldstyle had given him. The dial flashed the numbers Rusty put in. A Dalek voice came out of the receiver as it transmitted.

“Calling…The Doctor!” it droned. “Ring Ring! …Ring Ring! Is anybody there?” The ringtone sounded again. Another Special Weapons Dalek appeared. This one brought its gun to bear on us. Ichigō, Fourze, and Outback leapt into the air. Fourze swapped out the Elec and Gatling switches out and put in the Rocket and Drill switches.

“Rocket! Drill!” announced the driver. He switched them on. “Rocket on! Drill on!” A drill appeared on the left foot and a rocket attached to his right arm. He then used his left hand to pull the lever on the side. “Rocket! Drill! Limit break!”

“RIDER KICK!” shouted Ichigō.

“RIDER OUTBACK KICK!” announced Outback.

“RIDER ROCKET DRILL KICK!” called Fourze. They tore into the Special Weapons Dalek and made it explode. We were getting tired.

“I think our time is at an end,” gulped Gandalf as more Daleks surrounded us.

“Yeah, I don’t think the Doctor’s making house calls today!” observed Wyldstyle.

“Come on…!” urged Batman. The Emperor was about to use the Keystone it had when we heard a familiar Vworp! The TARDIS spun around and reflected the shrink ray the Keystone fired. It shrunk the enemy Daleks and the Emperor! Batman caught the new Keystone as it fell from the Emperor. The TARDIS then landed on one of the tiny Daleks. The doors opened and the Doctor came out with a big fat grin! The now tiny Emperor Dalek floated towards the Doctor.

“Doctor!” it screeched in a tiny voice. The Doctor showed no sympathy to the Emperor.

“Look,” he taunted, “before you start on me,” he bopped the Emperor with that wand of his, “if you WILL fire a shrink ray at a dimensionally transcendental time-machine, these accidents are going to happen.” Gandalf took the time to whack the Emperor with his staff.

“Exterminate him!” ordered the Emperor to his tiny forces. The tiny Daleks opened fire. All they did was give the Doctor tiny zaps.

“Hey, sorry about the shrinking,” said the Doctor, “but YOU called ME, remember?”

“About time, Doctor,” hissed Batman.

“Cutting it a bit close, weren’t you?” quizzed Fourze as all riders cancelled their transformations.

“What?!” yelped the Doctor. “Wait, do I know you?”

“Yes and no,” answered Wyldstyle. “I’m Wyldstyle. We’re the ones who called you.”

“Not the Daleks?” asked the Doctor. “Ah, that explains why they’re so tetchy. All right, get in.” The Brigadier and Rusty were about to go first. “Hold on, not you!” snapped the Doctor.

“Oh, come now, Doctor,” chuckled the Brigadier, “surely you wouldn’t deny an old friend a trip?”

“Old friend?” asked the Doctor. “Wait, you’re not speaking in a monotone. …Sir Alistair?”

“Back to Brigadier now, old chap,” answered the Brigadier. “You’re still in the UNIT files as Chief Scientific Advisor. If you need proof, I remember your salute on Earth in the 21st century.”

“You were responsible for giving me a new perspective on the Daleks,” replied Rusty. “I believe I said that I am not a good Dalek, YOU are a good Dalek.”

“Rusty?” quizzed the Doctor.

“You called the Doctor a Dalek?” the Brigadier asked Rusty.

“I let him look into my mind, but apparently, my hatred of the Daleks made him start to hate Daleks,” muttered the Doctor, sadly. “All I did was give him hatred. He joined the humans, but at a cost.”

“That IS a rather Dalek way of thinking, focusing on hatred towards a species, Doctor,” observed the Brigadier.

“We can point the finger later,” I interjected. “Let’s just get out of here. We’ve got a tale to tell.” We all boarded the TARDIS.

“You will pay for this, Doctor!” promised the Emperor. The Doctor couldn’t resist.

“Don’t worry,” he taunted. “You’ll be fine! Just eat plenty of vegetables! Excellent for growth!”

“Speaking of excellent,” observed the Brigadier, “Cyber-King head in-bound!” The Doctor closed the doors as the Cyber-King tackled the tiny Dalek Emperor. They engaged in a fight that consisted of bumps and sideswipes.

“Right,” called the Doctor as he shut the doors and worked the console, “one of you, start talking! And you can start with why that one’s got pointy ears!” He was talking about Batman as the TARDIS dematerialized and went through the rift.


	16. Chapter 16

Back with the main baddies, Vortech was being shouted at from Hiro. “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!” shouted Hiro. “You just rolled up and told the Daleks about the Scale Keystone in the hopes that they would join you, let it get caught by the Vortex Riders, and you’re doing NOTHING to stop them?! Vortech, you have lost your tiny little mind!!”

“What use is the Scale Keystone to those absurd little heroes?” asked Vortech. “All that Keystone can be is a plaything for children.”

“You seem to forget that children are trying to stop us!” protested Hiro. “They have Chen’s staff! A Foundation Element! Remember that you hired me to get such things so you can make universes collide?”

“We can retrieve it at our leisure,” dismissed Vortech. “If anything, you may be doubting Igura’s ability to get the Foundation Element from Dimension D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0.”

“It’s about time for the winning team to return,” chuckled Ambassador Hell. The portal opened and revealed Igura and her Shocker Nova team stepping through. “Wait, where’s my team?!” shrieked Ambassador Hell.

“They had encountered a race called the Cybermen,” explained Igura. “They tried to beat them but failed. A few were destroyed, most were converted. My team, on the other hand,” she produced a Dalek gunstick from behind her back, “had no casualties. One Foundation Element, as you requested.” A small, groaning noise escaped from Vortech while Ambassador Hell slapped his face.

“Subarashi!” (Awesome!) cheered Hiro. He turned to Vortech and Ambassador Hell. “You know the deal. Igura must choose what meal you two cook.”

“I’d like some Nikujaga,” ordered Igura. “And the meat must be sweet.”

“We’ll need some time to prepare,” muttered Ambassador Hell.

“We can wait two days, so you can get the meal right,” chuckled Igura. Vortech and Ambassador Hell stormed off.

“Well, that should give him something to chew on,” mused Hiro.

“Yee?” asked a Shocker Nova Combatman.

“Well,” explained Hiro, “Vortech’s been nonchalant about the fact that the self-proclaimed ‘Vortex Riders’ have a new size changing Keystone, calling it a toy.”

“Yee!” snapped the Combatman.

“I agree,” replied Igura. “Those Keystones have provided powers and they’ve proven proficient with those powers. Who’s to say they won’t use size-changing to their advantage?”

“There’s one last Keystone,” reported Hiro, “and our new Ring-bearer should be able to find it soon.”

“Speaking of which,” asked Igura, “you said that you had to bring his fortress there and put the Ring in that eye on top?”

“Exactly,” confirmed Hiro. “If necessary, we’ll have to send his forces along with him.”

“Let’s hope it works,” prayed Igura.

* * *

Back on Vorton, the TARDIS had arrived near the gateway. We had all explained who we are and what was going on to the Doctor. He was waving that wand of his, the sonic screwdriver, as he calls it, over Wyldstyle’s scanner as we walked out. Gandalf wanted to stay and explore more, but Batman and I got him out of there. “Okay,” finished the Doctor as he switched of the screwdriver, “I should be able to lock onto this, no problem.” He tossed it back to Wyldstyle and started examining the gateway. “Someone’s using this rift technology like a Gallifreyan Time Scoop. They’re pulling in monsters and madmen from everywhere.”

“We noticed,” muttered Batman.

“That doesn’t speak well of our security,” I mused. “If the enemy side can lock on to the gateway, it may know where we are.” The Doctor fiddled with the electronics inside the gateway and replaced the paneling once he was done.

“But THAT should stop whoever’s behind this tracking you from now on,” assured the Doctor. “No more rift loops. Speaking of which, I should go drop Mr. Kisaragi back in his own time and rescue the rest of you from one.” Batman took out one of the grapple guns he had and tossed it to the Doctor.

“You’ll need this,” he called. The Doctor looked uneasy as he held it.

“I usually take the stairs, but thanks,” muttered the Time Lord. “I’ll go finish up with the Daleks and their pals after I drop Gentarō off in his universe and time.”

“And we’ll deal with the rest,” assured Batman.

“Good,” confirmed the Doctor. He turned to Rusty and the Brigadier. “Are you sure you want to stay?”

“These people need additional technical support!” answered Rusty.

“Rusty’s right,” supported the Brigadier. “Having a witch work machinery doesn’t inspire confidence. It’s all taken care of. UNIT’s been notified.”

“Then see you lot later,” called the Doctor to us. “Or earlier.”

“Before you drop my past off in the Cyber-base with the rest of these guys,” stopped Gentarō, “give me this.” He handed the Fourze driver to the Doctor. “I don’t know where it came from as I destroyed it a while ago. Heinlein fans call it the bootstrap paradox, time travel theorists call it a causal loop, the Greeks call it begging the question, I call it a headache.”

“You googled the bootstrap paradox?” asked the Doctor as the space themed Kamen Rider stepped in.

“No, we all had a lecture by Michael,” explained Gentarō as the TARDIS started dematerializing. “And don’t listen to Kengo when he says I touch everything! That’s not true!” The TARDIS was gone, and so was its madman pilot.

“What an odd fellow,” mused Gandalf. He took out the Keystone to let it fly towards the gateway.

“The Scale Keystone!” cheered the voice “I’ll handle that.”

+GATEWAY 80% STABILIZED+ announced my belt

“Before you go, Mr. Gateway Guardian, we want answers!” I shouted to the sky. “Why is the enemy trying to get random objects? Why are our parents being held hostage? Why did the belts choose us to fight? And why are people from our fiction helping us?”

“And can the enemy be beaten?” asked Joshua.

“Only if Kamen Riders Apocalypse and Vortex can be found,” answered the voice. “Kamen Rider Apocalypse is supposed to be trained by all four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

“Sounds like a team of Sauron’s forces,” gulped Gandalf.

“Nah, they’re nice Anthropomorphic personifications,” assured the voice. “They’re just really good at their jobs, especially Death. She’s actually very sociable.”

“Really?” I asked. I hadn’t expected the Grim Reaper to be friendly towards mortals. Then again, we all have an appointment with Death, so being friendly would ease their souls after Death makes a visit.

“And with Kamen Rider Vortex around,” continues the voice, “more dimensions can be visited.

“Who’s Vortex?” I asked.

“A Kamen Rider that can freely pass between dimensions,” explained the voice. “No need for a gateway. That Rider can even summon others to help from across the multiverse. It’s said that those with large amounts of imagination from a dimension where nothing super-powered exists can find this Rider. 16 fragments of a map were made and forged into belts.”

“Our Vortex Drivers,” guessed Joshua.

“You guys chose us because we were the most imaginative in our dimension?” asked Tanisha.

+CORRECT+ confirmed my belt. +ANIMATIONS, LIVE-ACTION MOVIES, FANFICS, FANARTS, AND COSPLAYS SHOW THAT YOU ARE THE ONES DETERMINED TO KEEP YOUR MYTHOLOGY ALIVE+

“But Batman’s real in his universe,” protested Xiomara.

+BUT NOT IN YOURS+ countered my belt.

“So, nerds are prized in the multiverse,” I mused. “We actually care about the fandoms we love. Whenever a change comes to a fandom and it changes the fandom for the worse, we try like Hell to protect the fandom’s integrity.”

“Like _Sonic the Hedgehog_ and its changes,” supplied Emily. “That franchise became flawed during its run and fans try their best to get Sega to improve their mascot so the characters don’t fade in the background.”

“That’s why we’re chosen,” I guessed, “because, deep down, we’re fierce when it comes to our fandoms that we will fight to protect them, and the enemy just wants to slap us down, even going so far as to kidnap those that support us! They want us to just put our heads down like nerds were forced to do in the 80’s!”

“Well,” swore Hiroki, “all they’ve invited was defeat! If we’re the ones who’ve been asked to travel the multiverse to defeat our enemy, then we will!”

“That leaves those objects the enemy’s getting,” rasped Batman.

“They’re called Foundation Elements,” replied the voice. “They’re objects made to keep the multiverse stable.” It showed a set of images.

“Wait a minute, that’s kryptonite!” called Batman.

“That’s MetalBeard’s treasure!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“That’s Ichimonji’s Typhoon!” observed Hongo.

“That’s Mom’s necklace!” called Hiroki.

“Those are Dorothy’s ruby slippers!” shouted Emily.

“That’s the nuclear rod from Springfield Nuclear Power Plant!” called Richard.

“That’s Chen’s staff!” observed Michael.

“That’s a Dalek gun!” I yelped.

“More exist across the multiverse to keep each universe stable,” continued the voice.

“I don’t see the Ring,” realized Gandalf.

+SAURON’S ONE RING IS NOT A FOUNDATION ELEMENT+ answered my belt.

“We have to find the keystones and Kamen Rider Vortex,” I said. “If we’re the ones to stop the enemy, we’ll stop the enemy! Who’s with me!?!” We all gave a battle cry to show our unity, even the Brigadier and Rusty. Elphaba came up.

“What’s all that shouting?!” she snapped. “I’m trying to take a nap!”

“Come on, Elphaba,” I teased. “Haven’t you given a battle cry to give yourself energy to deal with a threat?”

“I never had many threats to my power,” responded Elphaba, “so, no, I haven’t.”

“We’re just shouting our cause to eliminate a long-term threat,” answered Emmanuel.

“There is an immediate threat that needs dealing with!” screeched Rusty. “The threat of gratitude! A reward will be dispensed on all of you so it can be neutralized!” Rusty opened his casing and, dear lord, Michael was not exaggerating on the gooey pilot inside the Dalek casing! Rusty’s innards were a tentacled blob of greenish, brown flesh with a single yellow eye, no visible mouth, and a smaller visible brain than the Emperor Dalek. It was practically strapped in with wires sticking into it. A longer tentacle hidden from the skirt section pulled a drawstring bag out and handed it to me. It was dripping with goo. I accepted it gingerly and opened it. More studs were inside.

“What’s the total number of studs we have now?” I asked my belt.

+STUDS IN BAG TOTAL 220,000+ replied my belt. +CURRENT CUMULATIVE STUD TOTAL IS NOW 600,000+

“Thank you,” I said to Rusty.

“You’re welcome!” responded Rusty as he closed his casing.

“Michael, why don’t you and Rusty tell me about the Daleks, in case we encounter them again,” suggested Batman.

“Very well!” replied Rusty. “The Daleks originally came from the planet, Skaro. We were once a race of humanoids called the Kaleds.”

“They were in a thousand-year nuclear war with the Thals,” continued Michael, “another race of humanoids that look a lot like Emmanuel, just without the dress and makeup.”

“They were tall and blonde?” asked Emmanuel.

“Yes,” confirmed Michael. “The resulting mutations from the fallout were accelerated by a disfigured Kaled scientist named Davros.”

“What he bred,” continued Rusty, “he placed into a travel machine designed for combat! He had removed all emotions and morals, except hatred!”

“And you’re one of the exceptions?” I asked Rusty.

“Only when the Doctor repaired me and linked my mind to his!” elaborated Rusty.

“Well now,” I mused, “interesting history of the Daleks.” My stomach growled.

“What was that?” yelped Rusty. “Was it a Dalek threat?!”

“No, just the threat of hunger,” I assured. “Who wants dinner?” Everyone, even Rusty and the Brigadier, said yes. “Wait, how can you guys eat?” I said to Rusty and the Brigadier.

“I can convert the food into an acceptable nutrient for Daleks!” replied Rusty. “Human food tastes better than the standard nutrients Daleks are given!”

“And Cybermen can eat when a recharge is insufficient,” continued the Brigadier, “but it requires the removal of the helmet and that can disrupt communication with other Cybermen. Now, I’m not going to be broken up about it, since I’m free.”

“Let’s get some grub then,” I suggested. We departed for the cafeteria.

* * *

War gasped for breath as she held her wound closed. “Never, in all of my existence,” she snarled as Death got bandages, “has a mortal ever beaten me!”

“Don’t talk,” whispered Death harshly as she started treating the wound. “The Daleks don’t exactly care that you’re immortal.”

“But the whole idea of an ant like him beating me!” roared War, angry as all Hell. “It’s infuriating! I didn’t spend my entire existence in battle just to be defeated by some idiot scientist who reverse engineered a transformation belt! A technology we entrusted to the Vortonians! I knew we should have kept it out of their reach! They should never have had that power! But no! No one listens to War, since she’s only a brute! Never mind the fact that she’s the most skilled in tactics and…!”

“Shut up!” hissed Death. “In case you forgot, I was in that fight too! The Vortonian military needed a final weapon to use so they could help the Tarlaxians.”

“Half of which are enslaved again!” snarled War. “Look at Turretorg! He was a very outspoken advocate for independence!”

“We’re not interrupting, are we?” wheezed a voice. War and Death turned to see a woman in full green plague doctor gear and a thin, yellow haired woman in baggy clothes constantly eating, but never gaining enough body mass to look healthy. They were Pestilence and Famine. All four horsemen had gathered. Pestilence knelt down to War’s wound. “Dear Lord, Death,” she wheezed. “You could have cleaned her wound! She may be immortal, but War isn’t immune to all diseases!”

“Why did you summon us?” mumbled Famine as she ate the candy bars she pulled out of her pockets.

“We need Kamen Rider Apocalypse NOW,” whispered Death.

“And you believe that to be Lacey?” grunted War. “She’s not from a null dimension like the Vortex Riders are! Who’s to say the Apocalypse Driver would accept her?”

“Doubtless, it could reject her if she’s untrained,” replied Famine as she swallowed, “but if we get her to the academy, it might help her in the long run.”

“I must agree with Famine,” wheezed Pestilence as she applied disinfectant to the wound. War tired her best not to wince from the disinfectant’s sting and Pestilence’s response.

“Don’t tell me you agree with Death!” she grunted.

“Only through the combined power of the Keystones and the two Savior Riders, Apocalypse and Vortex, will we finish Vortech!” argued Pestilence. “Lacey has proven herself to be open and understanding of us. She may be the best candidate for the mantle of Kamen Rider Apocalypse.”

“Besides,” mumbled Famine as she started scarfing down chicken nuggets, “she needs a better life. Her dad isn’t exactly supportive. You saw how he tried to destroy her death metal collection!” War considered for a moment as Pestilence wrapped her wound in gauze.

“Very well,” she finally grunted. “I’ll get her to our shared dimension.”

“No, you’re injured and need to rest,” whispered Death with a tone of finality. “Pestilence, you take War to the Healer. Famine, pick up Lacey. Take her to the academy, you have the necessary connections to get her registered.”

“What about the Vortex Riders?” asked War. “A shared dream haunts them.”

“Leave that to me,” answered Death. She mounted her horse. “Giddyap!” she said. The horse went through a portal she had made. Pestilence had War slung over her own horse as she rode while War’s horse ran after his rider. Famine mounted her gaunt looking horse and opened a portal to the Simpsons’ home world.


	17. Chapter 17

Again! That dream has been infecting my brain again! I was getting a little peeved. Richard’s corpse had already grabbed me when I snarled at it. “What, am I going to join you as the restless dead?” I snarked.

“You’ve failed us and will pay in eternal waking!” accused the corpse.

“I failed no one!” I snarled as the decay spread across my body.

“You claim that,” continued the corpse, “but the power you’ve encountered has rendered you as a child! Our power shall show you what we mean!” That was when the light rapidly dimmed and brightened. It kind of hurt my eyes, but something about it reversed the decay on my person. The intelligent zombies of my friends, on the other hand, screamed in terror as a tall figure, about 8’5” approached them. In the rare moments of good lighting, I saw the figure turn into the Grim Reaper as western civilization imagined it, a skeleton in a black cloak brandishing a scythe. The reaper spoke.

“You have no power here, servant of evil!” it bellowed in a female voice that rolled with thunder and power. The corpses tried to get away but were turning to dust with each step Death took. “You are powerless!” she continued. “Faceless and nameless to all but those that will stop you! Go back to the prison from whence you came!” The bodies had all disappeared by the time Death approached me. Her features started changing, becoming less bony. The bottom of her cloak had gained more layers of skirts and the sleeves of the cloak had separated at the upper arm. The hood stayed on as white trim appeared at the hem, the waist, the chest area holding the dress up, and along both ends of the sleeves, which went over her hands as white flowers appeared around the circumference of the hand’s opening and at the back of her waist. Her face fleshed out, literally and became covered in white make up with black lines giving the appearance of a skull. Her eyes opened to reveal black orbs with a tiny blue dot in the center. “You and your friends need to wake up, child,” Death’s new form whispered. “You have a long day ahead of you.” She tapped my forehead. That was when I woke up. I heard chatter in the other rooms next to me. The pieces fell together. Someone is making us have a shared nightmare! The enemy, maybe? I had decided to talk to everyone about it before we departed. After my dress routine, I found everyone in the cafeteria. Bacon, eggs, and toast was the meal for the morning.

“Rough night?” I asked everyone.

“That dream was too vivid for me to even get sleep,” admitted Batman. “Others woke before and after me, giving the exact details of the dream I had.”

“The one where after your corpses accused me of failing and converting my currently annoyed form?” I asked.

“And where Death herself intervened?” supplied the Brigadier, with his helmet off. That moustache of his seems odd on his aged face. I can’t judge though.

“We must have had a forcibly shared nightmare,” I guessed. “There’s no way anyone can dream the same dream naturally and wake up at different times.”

“Someone’s trying to divide us,” observed Gandalf. “The enemy may have more elaborate means of getting past security.”

“Why would Death want to help us?” asked Wyldstyle.

“To help us find Kamen Rider Apocalypse and Vortex,” figured Tonje. “If the enemy feels it can do away with the whole concept of death, who’s to say she doesn’t have a stake in this?”

“The other horsemen may be after the enemy’s head too,” I supplied. “Besides, the Gateway Guardian said they were just really good at their jobs and are actually very nice ladies.”

“Then we just need to stabilize the portal with the last Keystone,” resolved Haitao. “Speaking of which, who’s got the Scale Keystone?”

“That would be me,” called Hongo. He lifted his left arm. “That just leaves one of the F.N.S to use the last one.”

“Once we finish breakfast,” I declared, “we meet in the Gateway room. Got it?” Everyone nodded their approval. We had all finished and cleared away the dishes. We mounted our steeds and vehicles again. “Ready?” I asked. I got confirmation from everyone.

“All systems fully operational!” reported Rusty.

“Locators online,” called the Brigadier.

“Dimensional location set to D-C-C-0-M-1-C-5,” relayed Elphaba.

“CHARGE!” I shouted. We pounded through the portal and ran through the rift. The Doctor had kept his word on us not encountering any rift loops.

* * *

In that universe, the Keystone was being surrounded by a crowd with cameras flashing, police keeping people away, and reporters trying to get a closer look. The last Keystone had a symbol shaped like a white compass in the center. Above it was a crescent shape connected with a blue dot and below it was an upside down four. The reporters were trying to get closer, some sneaking in camera shots, annoying the police. So involved were they in their work, they didn’t see a giant of a man step towards them until he let his footsteps get heavier. He wore spikey armor, a tattered cape, and a helmet with a crown on top where you only had the eyeholes to indicate where he could see. He carried a large staff with a mace affixed to the top. One of the police saw the man. “It’s not Halloween yet, is it?” he asked

“You’ll have to stay back, sir,” his partner told the stranger. “It isn’t safe here.”

“You are right,” confirmed the mystery man in a cold whisper.

“Wow,” praised the police officer, admiring the armor. “‘A’ for effort.” The mystery man then swung his staff at the crowd! The police fired on the man, but he simply raised his hand and stopped the bullets. He then directed the rounds into the crowd! He spoke in a language that sounded evil!

_Shre nazg golugranu kilmi-nudu,_

_Ombi kuzd-durbagu gundum-ishi,_

_Nugu gurunkilu bard gurutu,_

_Ash burz-durbagu burzum-ishi,_

_Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu._

_Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,_

_Ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul_

_Daghburz-ishi makha gulshu darulu._ The crowd held their ears in pain. “Aw, is the Black Speech too hard on your ears?” mocked the man. “Here’s a translation into the language of men!”

_Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,_

_Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,_

_Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,_

_One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne._

_In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,_

_One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,_

_One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness, bind them,_

_In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie._

“Who are you?!” cried a bystander.

“I am your new master,” answered the mystery man as he held up his right hand which held a ring in the ring finger. Fiery words in an unknown script raced across the band of gold around his finger. “I am Sauron, and you are now ‘guests’ of New Mordor!” Morgoth’s successor grabbed the Keystone and held it high. “Locate help from M-1-D-D-L-3-3-A-R-T-H!” Sauron’s fortress of Barad-dûr came down from a portal in the sky. It leveled a rotating building shaped like three L’s in a triangle. As the rubble fell from the building Barad-dûr sat on, Sauron brought over his Orc forces along with Turretorg, Discornia, the Vortexons, and the Combatmen of both Shocker branches. We had appeared as the crowds ran from the enemy. A newspaper guy ran by, dropping his load, but they weren’t his main priority. Batman saw the title of the paper, _The Daily Planet_. It had the headline INVASION with a picture of an Orc on the front.

“This is Metropolis,” observed Batman. Then Metropolis’ blue tights wearing protector zoomed by with that slicked back hairstyle with the curl in front, the red S on the front of the suit, and the red cape and boots. He saw us below and flashed a grin. I will admit, I swooned when he did that as did Xiomara and Emily.

“It’s Superman!” called Wyldstyle. “He’ll help us!” He wanted to, I could tell, but a portal sucked him up, cutting that plan short. “Ooooooohhhh,” groaned Wyldstyle in disappointment.

“That’s right,” grumbled the Dark Knight. “Leave it to Batman. Again!” Gandalf was distracted by the sight of Sauron’s fortress in the distance.

“Barad-dûr!” he breathed.

“What is that thing, Gandalf?” asked Wyldstyle.

“The Dark Tower, where Sauron dwells,” explained the wizard as he dropped to his knees and held his hat in his hands. “If he is here, all is lost! We cannot hope to defeat him without Frodo, without the One Ring.” Batman had grappled to a roof ledge and used binoculars to get a feel of his surroundings. Energy shields with electrified webs blocked the streets of Metropolis.

“That’s why Frodo was taken,” I surmised as I noticed the Dark Tower had no fiery eye on top. “The enemy needed Sauron’s forces and figured that he would command them better if he were in complete form instead of an eye on a tower.”

“I see him!” called Batman. “And the Keystone! Let’s go!” He spoke into a mike to inform someone of the situation.

“Good idea,” affirmed Wyldstyle as she punched her hand in readiness. “I may not know who Sauron is, but he sounds like bad news!”

“We better transform,” I declared. “Enemy forces are swarming the streets, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.” We got our i.d tags out and struck our poses.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we shouted. We all transformed and started running through the streets, fighting Orcs as we approached one of those gates. The webs looked organic inside the field.

“Oracle,” requested Batman into a communicator in his suit, “identify the materials that make up the web.” He activated external speakers and mikes.

“Various proteins are in the silk,” reported a female voice, “suggesting that the web is organic like a normal spider.”

“If it’s one of the Great Spiders that plague Middle-Earth,” mused Guard, “I will be very unsurprised.”

“There are giant spiders running around,” replied Oracle. “One of them, the apparent leader, is called Shelob by Sauron’s forces.”

“The Spawn of Ungoliant is here?” yelped Gandalf.

“Why is one of their number purple?” asked Zhànshì. I looked through the gate and saw a purple tarantula.

“Why is he here?!” I moaned, guessing that the purple spider was more than meets the eye.

“Let’s find out,” resolved Guard, making the same guess. “I see something in that dark area that has the outline of a keystone transmitter. Now may be a good time to use the Scale Keystone.” Gandalf lit the area up, confirming the object.

“I see,” I guessed. “Make one of us small and the person can mess with the electronics of the gate.”

“Let me do it,” called Climb as she pointed to a vent. “I AM called Kamen Rider Climb for a reason.”

“Very well,” I agreed. “Ichigō, if you please.”

“Scale Keystone, activate!” ordered Ichigō. “Lessen scale of Climb!” Climb shrunk down and crawled into the vent. Orcs and Lex-bots arrived!

“Well, that’s just great!” snapped Batman. “Gotta get these things out of the way!” Gandalf then remembered he had Glamdring on his person.

“Ah, yes!” he exclaimed as he drew the Foe-hammer out. “This could be just the very thing that’s needed.” We then went on the assault while Climb messed with the circuitry keeping the electric part of the gate up. Soon it fizzled out, leaving only the web. The spiders on the other side soon realized what was going on and rushed to their colleagues’ aid. The purple spider saw this and started scheming. While he schemed, Climb came back out of the vent. She had to dodge a bunch of feet.

“Ichigō, a little help?!” she asked in a tiny voice.

“Normalize scale of Climb!” called Ichigō. She grew back to her normal size and joined in the fight. The enemy was surprised. She then stabbed with her stylized kinjal and stabbed a spider, right in its middle!

“Oi!” I said to the purple spider. “Predacon! Help me!”

“How do you know about the Predacons?!” the spider spluttered. “Cybertron doesn’t exist in this universe!”

“That’s not for you to know,” I exclaimed. “Now get over here!” The spider shrugged his pedipalps and pounced on the other spiders.

“Traitor!” shrieked one.

“Dismantle it!” spat a second. “It’s a machine! I felt it! Save the squishy ones for our feast!”

“The fat one should have good meat and juices!” hissed a third, referring to Touché.

“You’re just jealous that I’m loved and you’re practically starving yourselves to gain attention,” quipped Touché. “Considering those spindles you walk on, I shouldn’t be surprised you’re hungry at all.”

“The meat insults us!” shrieked a fourth.

“Get your minds off of food and fatties like her for once and kill…!” the Orc didn’t get very far as Glamdring liberated the head from the neck.

“None shall insult a lady of good repute,” he hissed. We started chopping down the enemy.

“They sting! Sting!” yelled a spider.

“Sorry, we don’t have Sting on us,” joked Battle.

“Retreat!” droned a Lex-bot. “We’re no match for them now!” The enemy forces fled from the scene. The purple spider stayed behind and cackled.

“Now,” he giggled after he finished. He then tackled me. “You seem to know a thing or two about the Predacons!”

“And Maximals, Autobots, and Decepticons,” I replied. “In my world, Cybertron and its people were nothing more than a toy line with a story behind it. You’re an agent of the Tripredacus Council, Tarantulas, am I right?”

“You seem familiar with me,” cackled the Predacon Mad Scientist, “but I don’t recall meeting any fleshlings before I landed on Earth in its prehistory. Who are you?!”

“That’s not your concern,” I answered. I then tapped my blade under his abdomen.

“I hardly think you’re in a position to make demands,” snickered Tarantulas.

“Oh, I think you underestimate me, Master Tarantulas,” I argued. I grabbed his pedipalps roughly and shook him. He managed to get out of my grip and got into an attack position. I then swapped out my i.d tag. A dual image of Tarantulas’ two heads he had in Beast Wars appeared. I chose the one with the tiny horns.

“Transmetal Tarantulas Steel!” announced my belt.

“My Transmetal mode?!” spluttered the Tripredacus agent. “How did you get it?!”

“I have my ways,” I answered cryptically as the wardrobe dissolved. The new steel had circular shoulder pads with green dots, a set of yellow spider spinnerets on the back with purple spider legs pointing up. My boots were yellow and my arms were purple with yellow claws. My helmet gained Tarantulas’ mandibles and tiny horns. “Tarantulas, terrorize,” I mocked.

“Let me show you how a Transformer does it!” hissed Tarantulas. “Tarantulas, TERRORIZE!” The front of the spider swung down with the fangs and pedipalps becoming two digited claws and swinging out on arms that had the spider legs. Legs and feet swung out from the spinnerets as the head popped out, complete with yellow visor that had machinery on the upper part of the optical array to show emotions. He cackled as he finished his transformation. “Now then, fleshling,” cackled the robot in disguise, “your pale imitation of my Transmetal mode against the real deal!”

“You’re not in your Transmetal mode,” I reminded.

“Upgrades are a valuable thing, aren’t they!” cackled the spider bot. “METALIZE!” A wave of light passed over Tarantulas as he turned into his Transmetal mode, complete with his three digited hands. “You will serve as a perfect meal after I finish playing!” My friends then swapped their i.d tags.

“Transmetal Tarantulas Steel!” announced their belts. The wardrobes dissolved to reveal my friends in their new armor.

“Get him!” I shouted. Tarantulas leaned forward and fired from the dots on his shoulder pads. Guard, I, and, surprisingly, Touché, did the same. Tarantulas jumped out of the way but didn’t look where he was landing. Arch, Kämpfer, Sengoku, and Climb fired from their versions of Tarantulas’ wheel gun and fired on him. Tarantulas came to his knees, letting me grab his neck. He was surprised at my grip. “Now,” I said, “I need all the information on Sauron’s plans.”

“I can’t tell you,” smirked Tarantulas. I then commanded one of the spider legs on my back to bury itself into his shoulder. He squawked in pain.

“The next one will be in your skull,” I threatened. “Then we can download the information into Oracle.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” yelped Tarantulas, deciding, wisely, not to call my bluff. “We don’t know what the endgame is! Sauron won’t risk a security breach! The only thing I know is that it involves an object that summons objects from other universes, but he keeps it with him in Barad-dûr!”

“Then we need to get there,” I resolved, making plans.

“Good luck with that!” cackled Tarantulas. “He’s surrounded the fortress on all sides!” I grinned under my helmet.

“Go into your beast/vehicle mode,” I ordered. “You’re going to help us go through those gates while carrying me.”

“Wait, that’s not…!” spluttered Tarantulas.

“I’m going to take a page out of the Predacons’ book and alter the deal,” I hissed. “Pray I don’t alter it any further.” A few of my friends got the reference. Tarantulas spluttered for a while as he considered my offer. He fired his own wheel gun at the webbing still up on the gate, allowing us passage.

“Beast mode!” he snarled. In his Transmetal mode, the front folded up to allow the feet to become the fangs of the spider mode. The rear split away to allow the arms to tuck in behind the main body and the head to sink into the body while the spider legs held him up. He then folded his spider legs up and popped out wheels in a motorcycle configuration. I then climbed aboard. “You’ll pay for this, fleshling!” threatened Tarantulas.

“Shut up and drive!” I ordered. I kept a tiny bit of doubt in my mind as we may be played for fools. We arrived at the next gate. I dismounted and Tarantulas transformed again.

“Oi!” called an Orc. “I thought you were trustworthy! What are you doing?!”

“Helping us,” I replied for Tarantulas as I took out the Tarantulas i.d tag and put my own back in. I then converted my blade into rifle mode and unleashed hell on the enemy. “Ichigō-san, now would be a good time to shrink someone!” Part of a vent was dangling off the rest. Ichigō got an idea

“Scale Keystone, activate!” announced Ichigō. “Lessen scale of Wyldstyle!” Wyldstyle shrunk. Ichigō then picked her up. “I’m going to place you under the dangling bit of vent,” he told her. “When you grow to a larger height, I need you to hold up the vent part.”

“Got it!” confirmed Wyldstyle in a tiny voice. Ichigō then put her under the vent part while we kept the enemy off their backs.

“Enlarge scale of Wyldstyle!” announced Ichigō. Wyldstyle grew to a giant height and held the vent part in place. “Who’s willing to crawl into the vent?” asked Ichigō.

“Let me do it!” I called.

“Lessen scale of Royal!” ordered Ichigō. I shrunk down and headed straight for the opening. I crawled through the place and saw some wires.

“These look important,” I mused. I converted my rifle back into sword mode and started cutting wires. The electricity started sparking everywhere. “On reflection, Megumi Hishikawa,” I yelped to myself, “this probably wasn’t your smartest plan!” I managed to get out and land on a spider’s butt. Ichigō saw the tiny hole I made to make my escape and the electric part of the gate went down.

“Normalize scale of Royal!” he called. I grew and stabbed my spider in the butt. It thrashed around before going still.

“In all honesty,” I chuckled, “how many spiders can say their friend died of a butt stab?” I didn’t get enough time for an answer as an Orc was about chop my head off! As I ducked, another Orc launched a fire arrow at us. I then got an idea. “Hey, you!” I taunted. “Your aim is so bad; a normal man could hit the bullseye before you could! And that’s when an Elf is thrown into the equation!” That got the desired result as a fire arrow set the web part of the gate on fire.

“Oops,” mumbled the Orc.

“YOU IDIOT!” roared the Orc Captain. “SAURON ORDERED US TO KEEP THE GATES UP AND YOU LET A TAUNT INFECT YOUR BRAIN!! WERE YOU DROPPED ON YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU CAME OUT OF YOUR MOTHER?!” I was surprised by that comment but dropped it as a spider nearly jumped me. We managed to gain a little ground, but a rain of Orc arrows from another wall came down on us.

“We need to tear that wall down!” called Arch.

“Allow me to handle this,” assured Gandalf. He used magic to assemble a ramp out of a ruined car. He then mounted Shadowfax to charge over the gate and make the Orcs lean over their positions. The shift in balance made the wall topple, trapping the Orcs under the rubble. “Shall we press on?” asked Gandalf.

“I must learn how to do that!” giggled Tarantulas.

“Magic is the last thing a Predacon loony like you needs!” argued Touché. “You would dissect Gandalf and then eat his remains once your experiment was done. He doesn’t even run on Energon! How much nutritional value is in blood?!”

“My dear sister,” muttered Guard, “I thought you said you hated the _Transformers_ franchise.”

“I lied!” snapped Touché.

“My filters would have adjusted,” cackled Tarantulas. “It’s the act I like more than the nourishment!”

“You’re a sick bug!” I commented. I then heard whispering. “Shut up for a sec, you guys,” I said. I stealthily followed the noise with my team following close behind. What I saw chilled me. There, around a fire, were nine beings cloaked in black. The hoods did not display their faces.

“What are they?” whispered Hunt.

“They were great kings of Men once,” explained Gandalf. “But the nine rings that were granted to them had corrupted them, made them lust for power. Now, after their initial deaths, they serve Sauron as literal shadows of their former selves. They are the Nazgûl, Ringwraiths.”

“The Nine,” I whispered, remembering the shrieks Peter Jackson gave them. “Do they have names?”

“Only titles,” replied Gandalf. “Their Lord is the Witch-King of Angmar. His second in command is the Shadow of the East, and the others are the Dark Marshal, the Betrayer, the Shadow Lord, the Undying, the Dwimmerlaik, the Tainted, and the Knight of Umbar.”

“Let’s listen to what they have to say,” I whispered.

“Shire…” whispered East. “Baggins… The Hobbit then pointed me to Bag End, but Frodo wasn’t there. So, my hunt went to the forest near a farmer. I could smell them near a tree, and one of them got the bright idea,” he held up a bag and changed his tone to an angry one, “TO THROW A BAG OF VEGETABLES TO DISTRACT ME!”

“You think you had it bad?” whispered Dwimmerlaik. The tone was feminine, so it surprised me after Gandalf told us they were men. “Tainted, Betrayer, Undying, and I were in the hotel OPPOSITE of theirs, so our kill count was about…four murdered bed pillows!”

“And that gate keeper,” whispered Tainted, in a slight Scots accent. “Why’d he have to die?”

“Sorry,” whispered Betrayer. “The journey to Bree made me wait for my horse’s ferry. It just made me so angry!”

“…That made you angry?” whispered Tainted. “We’re bound to the fate of a piece of jewelry, we have no horses after that flood near Rivendell, we just got the sack from Sauron, and an inconvenience like not having your horse near you at all times makes you angry!”

“The sack?” asked Gandalf.

“Fired,” I explained. Gandalf didn’t understand. “Er, released from service,” I said.

“Dismissed?” yelped Gandalf, a little louder than I would have liked. “Sauron released his lieutenants from service?”

“SSHH!” I hissed.

“THEY WERE RIGHT THERE!” shrieked East. “THEY WERE STARING ME IN THE FACE!”

“Maybe we would have gotten the Ring,” whispered Betrayer, “if we didn’t look so bloody ominous!”

“I told you,” hissed Knight, “black is a very slimming color.”

“Well, even though we lost our jobs,” whispered Dwimmerlaik, “at least we look pretty!” Sarcasm was heavy in her voice.

“Enough!” snarled Witch-King. “It’s hardly our fault. Lord Vortech thought to give the Ring to Sauron. He needed control over our forces. With the Ring in his possession, Sauron believes himself invincible.”

“And you know of a weakness?” asked East.

“Don’t be absurd, Khamûl,” whispered Witch-King. “Sauron wouldn’t be stupid to reveal his weakness to anyone.” I sighed inwardly, as I had hoped I would gain intel on that.

“Absurd?” hissed East. “Absurd?! That’s it! I’ve had it up to here with you! You constantly push us around and don’t even give us thanks for it!”

“Perhaps we would have been given the reward we so richly deserve,” hissed Witch-King, “if you weren’t distracted by a bag of carrots!”

“Oh yeah?!” hissed East. “I hope you turn to ash, you pathetic excuse of a King!”

“Do you have a problem?!” hissed Witch-King.

“Yes!” responded East. “It’s 7’1” and reeks of Númenor!”

“Well, you’re an overbearing failure that gets his directions from midgets!” hissed Witch-King.

“You’re bossy,” accused East, “you’re rude, and you have no sense of hand to hand combat!”

“I don’t know why Sauron gave you your ring in the first place!” hissed Witch-King.

“That makes two of us!” hissed East. “I QUIT!” He stormed off. We decided to slip past them. I really wish we could mask our smells, because Dwimmerlaik sniffed the air.

“Hang on,” she whispered, “I smell someone! Khamûl, come back! We need you!”

“No, we don’t!” hissed Witch-King. “If he wishes to abandon us, let him do so! Khòrena, what do you smell?”

“Men, women, and the metal spider!” whispered Dwimmerlaik. “Khamûl, get over here!”

“I said, leave him!” hissed Witch-King.

“Don’t be stupid!” hissed Dwimmerlaik. “We need him to beat these guys!”

“Khòrena, put him out of your mind!” barked Witch-King. “That is an order!”

“Go drown yourself,” hissed Marshal. “Khamûl’s been carrying us more than you have. Khòrena, since you were third in command, what are your orders?”

“Never mind the humans,” whispered Dwimmerlaik, “we need Khamûl more than Angmar here!” The remaining Nazgûl split into two sides, Witch-King and the rest. Dwimmerlaik and her company mounted their horses and rode off after East, leaving Witch-King to fight us.

“TRAITORS!” shrieked Witch-King. “DECEIVERS! TWO FACED DOLTS! I’LL HAVE YOUR HEADS!” He was in such a rage that he gave the signature Nazgûl shriek. He then turned to us. “Fine,” he hissed as he grabbed a helmet that gave off an image of a crown of thorns, “I’ll deal with these creatures myself!”

“Scram!” I snapped as he looked at me. “We’ve got a mission and an undead king isn’t gonna stop us.”

“Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey!” warned the former Nazgûl leader. He swung his mace at us, nearly knocking the wind out of us. As we ducked, my face was too near his sword’s point. I spun away, making him focus on me. As he raised his weapons, the Nazgûl lord was struck across the back by Touché’s foil. He dropped his weapons as he cried out in pain. I then plunged my sword into his arm, making him clutch the wound as I pulled my blade out.

“Cease battle!” I shouted.

“Are you out of your mind?!” called Guard.

“Royal is right,” remarked Gandalf as he sheathed Glamdring. “Without Sauron to answer to, the Witch-King of Angmar is nothing more than a ghost. He cannot hope to continue without the power of the Ring or his former servants.”

“We proceed to the last gate,” I affirmed.

“No living man can hinder the Nazgûl lord,” argued Battle. “A good chunk of us are women! We need him gone!”

“No!” I said with finality in my voice. “If any of the ladies kill him now, rest assured, I will see to it that you have your membership in the Feudal Nerd Society revoked!” Harsh, I admit, but I was not about to kill a creature that needed pity more than death. Everyone considered, then sheathed their weapons. “I thought so,” I commented. We pressed on when something dark gripped us. An evil voice spoke, belonging to the Dark Lord of Mordor.

“You cannot hide,” he hissed.

“Not even trying to,” I responded. Sauron laughed and faded. We ploughed our way through and made it to the final gate. “Er, where’s the transmitter?” I gulped. “Spread out!”

“Bit of a problem,” replied Kämpfer, “a security door is closing whenever we approach it and Combatmen from inside are laughing at us.”

“On top of that,” continued Hongo, “Vortexons are near that locker inside.” The aforementioned minions were laughing and miming that they can’t open the locker. I got an idea and swapped the Tarantulas i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” announced my belt. I got the armor on straight away.

“Taunt them back,” I directed. “I have a plan.” The Vortex Riders did, admittedly, childish things to taunt them, by anyone’s standards. The enemy then went into a taunt war with my friends while I slipped in and fiddled with the controls, i.e. I cut a few wires to make it spark. When it did, a Shocker Combatman tried to make the doors close. When he failed, that’s when I made myself visible. The enemy turned, then smiled nervously as they waved. I gave the Queen wave before I grabbed a Vortexon and spun around, knocking everyone out. Gandalf got in after the enemy fell and jimmied the lock on the locker. A transmitter fell out.

“That’s exactly what we need!” called Hongo.

“I saw an air vent with a dangling part above the building’s awning,” revealed Wyldstyle. “If you could accompany me up, Hongo?”

“Gladly!” cheered Ichigō. They jumped up and landed perfectly up top.

“Now THAT is impressive jumping power!” cackled Tarantulas.

“It should be,” I replied. “On top of cybernetics, he’s been blended with the DNA of a grasshopper.”

“You mean, he’s a genetically altered cyborg?” gagged Tarantulas.

“One of Shocker’s greatest successes and failures,” I mused. Tarantulas made a disgusted noise. “You were gonna dissect him and eat him, weren’t you!” I yelped.

“I WAS,” muttered Tarantulas, “but genetically altered people don’t taste well.”

“I was right! You’re SICK!” I accused.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” countered Tarantulas.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” announced Ichigō. “Lessen scale of Wyldstyle!” Wyldstyle shrunk and went under the dangling part of the vent. “Enlarge scale of Wyldstyle!” Wyldstyle grew, holding the vent part in its place. “Lessen scale of Ichigō!” Ichigō shrunk and crawled into the vent. Sadly, enemy forces were trying to get up the awning.

“Ugh, not again!” moaned Batman. He turned up. “Hongo! You gotta deactivate the gateway!” No sooner had he asked than the electricity surrounding the web part of the gate shut off. Ichigō then leapt out and landed on Wyldstyle’s shoulder as she let the vent part drop.

“Normalize scale of Wyldstyle and Ichigō!” called Ichigō. Not a bright move as when their mass and size changed, they toppled onto each other. They disentangled themselves soon enough and joined us. Spiders then approached us.

“Tough and thick, your skins must be,” one hissed at us, “but I’ll wager that there’s good juices inside!”

“Aye, they’ll make fine feasting when they’ve hung a bit!” remarked another.

“Only a few are well fed,” observed a third as it looked at Touché. “Don’t hang ‘em too long!”

“What is it, Make Fun of Fat Women Day?” snapped Touché.

“You should be honored!” said a fourth to her. “With one of your girth, you could feed us for months!”

“Feast! Feast! Feast!” chanted the spiders. I was still in Batman Steel, so I activated my stealth functions. Batman did the same. My friends then swapped out their i.d tags for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” their belts announced. After the wardrobe disappeared, they activated their stealth functions.

“THE MEAT’S DISAPPEARED!” shouted the first spider.

“Easy fix,” assured the fourth spider. It turned around rapidly and started firing web balls at us. Long story short, we got webbed. “There we are! Right…”

“Where I want you!” called Tarantulas. I got web over my eyes, so I couldn’t see. All I heard were the screams and death rattles of the spiders. Once the screams died down, I heard a hissing noise. As it progressed, the web around me got brittle. I moved my head, making the web crack all around me. I got up and witnessed my friends doing the same and Tarantulas was kicking off the web on the gate. The spiders laid dead with cracked exoskeletons and puncture points.

“Er…what did…?” I asked Tarantulas.

“Crystalocution is a martial art that focuses on attacking the enemy’s fracture points,” explained Tarantulas. “Granted, it’s never been done on an organic, but I needed to test a theory. If one were to use that martial art on an organic with an exoskeleton, the results would be similar, not exact, to using in on a metal enemy. Those three Orcs over there,” he pointed to the messy remains of Orcs that I will NOT describe here because it was gory, “served as the control group. As you can see, my theory was proven correct. The results are similar, but not exactly like attacking a Cybertronian. Now, all that’s left is to find out if the results are the same for ALL organics with natural armor.” The web was cleared away. “Shall we go?” asked Tarantulas.

“Ah, good!” cheered Gandalf, welcoming the change in topic. “Onwards! Onwards!”

“Why do I get the feeling that the worst is still to come?” asked Wyldstyle. The question repeated in all of our heads as we pressed on.


	18. Chapter 18

We finally reached a dark and evil place in Metropolis, filled to the brim with moans and screams of innocent people. Green energy walls were set up, with the LexCorp symbol. Three Orcs in complete armor and carrying spears stood guard at the gate, one of them looking nervous. “I think I heard something that time!” yelped the nervous Orc.

“You didn’t hear anything!” snarled the second Orc.

“…There, Ma!” called the first Orc to the second. “Don’t you hear it?!”

“Yes,” hissed the Orc mother, testily, “I heard a prisoner’s blood hitting the ground!”

“Sounds like bats!” stammered the nervous Orc.

“Bats aren’t made of liquid!” growled the Orc mother. “Bats don’t drip!”

“Bat water!” cried the nervous Orc.

“There are no bats!” shouted the third Orc.

“You don’t know that, Dad!” protested the nervous Orc. “What if you’re wrong?!”

“Okay, let’s assume your mother and I are wrong,” snarled the Orc father. “Let’s assume there ARE bats. So what? You’re wearing state of the art Orc armor! It’s designed to take heavy damage and deflect whatever these things shoot.” He gestured to the gun he had confiscated from a police officer. “What can a flying five-ounce rodent possibly do to you?”

“…So, you’re saying there ARE bats!” gulped the nervous Orc. His mother face palmed.

“Sure, let’s go with that,” she snarled.

“I’m getting out of here!” cried the nervous Orc.

“No, you’re not!” snarled his mother. “Sauron told us to guard this gate, so we’re guarding this gate!”

“At least, let us get near a light source!” begged the nervous Orc.

“That would involve moving,” growled his father, “and go against our stone-faced ‘no moving’ guard policy!”

“But the light-”

“No.”

“-would help us see the bats!”

“NO.”

“And their fangs!”

“NO!”

“…Hey, you know what else loves cities?” asked the Orc son. “Birds!”

“You little turd!” growled the father, getting as nervous as his son. “Why would you mention birds to me and your mother?!”

“I’m just saying…” the Orc son didn’t complete his sentence as a batarang knocked all three out. We stepped out of our hiding place and opened the gate. What we saw was horrible. People were being tortured, dangled off the towers, and trying to escape the Orcs.

“It looks like they’ve turned this place into a prison!” gulped Wyldstyle.

“Sauron will enslave all of mankind,” hissed Gandalf as he looked at the top of Barad-dûr.

“Not on my watch!” promised Batman. That’s when an eye made of flame and shadow appeared at the top of the fortress.

“I…SEE…YOU!” called Sauron. “Locate help from Foundation Prime!” A portal opened to drop a giant elephant like creature with four tusks instead of two. It had some sort of transport on its back and had red and black war paint on its front. It had two devices, one on its front left leg and one on its rear left leg. It had two four-barreled gun turrets on its left side and had Orcs, Combatmen, goons in two colored suits and roller skates, and Vortexons riding it. That’s when a man with a scarred left face and a suit in two colors on each half came up from the mount.

“Well, well!” chuckled the man in a voice that went from normal to raspy. “If it isn’t our old friend, Batman!”

“Two-Face!” snarled Batman.

“Where did you get the Oliphaunt?” I asked.

“And what have you done to that poor beast?!” demanded Gandalf.

“Given it a facelift!” answered Two-Face. “Would you be interested in one?”

“I doubt it!” replied Gandalf.

“You know,” mused Seeker, “there’s a tough choice here. Either you leave and we proceed to Sauron, or you stay and we kick your rear. Both choices have very good benefits for us. If you leave, it makes our job easier. If you stay, we beat you and gain satisfaction. Such a hard choice!” She was grinning under her helmet, I just know it.

“Then let me help you choose!” called Two-Face. He pulled out a coin. “Heads or Tails?”

“Harvey, no!” pleaded Batman.

“Ooh, Tails!” called Wyldstyle.

“Wyldstyle, no!” protested Seeker, whatever plan she had crumbling apart. Two-Face flicked the coin into the air.

“Don’t worry,” assured Wyldstyle. “I get this right almost half the time.” Two-Face caught the coin and put it on his left hand. He got a look at it.

“Sorry, it’s heads!” answered Two-Face.

“What does heads mean?” asked Wyldstyle, dreading the answer.

“That you lose YOURS!” replied Two-Face.

“It’s a two-headed coin!” snarled Seeker. “One side is ruined while the other side is fine! You would have lost anyway!”

“Even picking heads isn’t a guarantee of winning,” continued Batman.

“Oh, that poor Oliphaunt!” wailed Gandalf. “Something needs to be done about this!” The Oliphaunt turned to have its left side face us. Enemy forces then surrounded us and attacked. We had to fight them off as we got closer to the Oliphaunt. It fired two beams of light to freeze us in our place. Ichigō used his legs to break the ice that surrounded us.

“Agh!” roared Two-Face. “That’s the last time we deal with Mr. Freeze!” The Oliphaunt then used its trunk to toss a car at us.

“I think we can use parts from that truck to help us!” called Wyldstyle.

“Royal! Arch!” yelled Batman. “I’ll need some help getting the parts!”

“Got it!” I replied. We were still in Batman Steel, thank goodness. We fired our grapple guns at the grill of the truck and yanked it off. It revealed a Keystone transmitter!

“The Elemental Keystone should help us get closer to that…elephant looking…thing!” figured Wyldstyle.

“It’s called an Oliphaunt!” I corrected.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Tarantulas!”

“Fire?!” spluttered Tarantulas.

“Don’t be a baby!” I snapped. “It won’t hurt!” A red aura surrounded Tarantulas. He was confused, then summoned a fireball. His optics lit up in glee.

“These ‘Keystones’ you lot use,” he cackled, “shall prove quite useful!” He tossed fireballs at the enemy.

“Element of lightning, Royal!” announced Gandalf. While Tarantulas kept the enemy off my back, I fired a lightning stream at the electric coils attached to the Oliphaunt’s bracelets. It stumbled in fright as the bracelets exploded, along with the freeze turrets. “Easy, my friend,” said Gandalf. “No one is going to harm you now.”

“I’m afraid that’s not true,” oozed a venomous, female voice. That’s when something sharp penetrated my back and pumped ooze into me. I felt my mouth forming spit. My vision went dark. The last thing I felt was my suit turning off before I lost total consciousness.

* * *

That treacherous Predacon cackled as he extracted the needle from Megumi’s back! She fell, as did the Oliphaunt. As it fell, Two-Face fell into a portal that opened for him. The Oliphaunt lost consciousness as hairy spider legs pulled their owner’s fat, bulbous body up. It had something infectious covering a few of the eyes on the left. The massive spider, easily three times the size of the spiders we fought on the way here, had a dripping maw under its set of four fangs. If I were a betting girl, I’d put money on this spider carrying the name Shelob. What surprised me was that she spoke. “So,” she whispered, as she walked over the Oliphaunt’s body, “you thought to squash us as if we were small house spiders?”

“Never turn your back on a spider!” cackled Tarantulas. “They tend to be venomous!”

“I can’t believe my smaller cousins said that you would feed them for a while,” chuckled Shelob, referring to me.

“Why do you guys pick on my twin sister more than me?!” protested Guard. “I’m not exactly Mister Skinny myself!”

“Not nearly enough of a meal for the two of us,” muttered Shelob. Guard gave off a scoff.

“My dear Shelob,” called Tarantulas, “dinner is served.” He presented Megumi to her.

“Now, her,” chuckled Shelob, “with her in my gullet, you’ll be aimless without her! That is feast enough!” She made a move to get her, but my fencing foil just missed her eyes.

“Get away from her, you filth!” I hissed.

“I seem to have forgotten your name,” asked Shelob.

“Kamen Rider Touché!” I replied as I swapped the Batman i.d tag for my own. “En Garde, thing of evil!” I turned to my friends. “Take care of Tarantulas! Shelob’s mine!” I swung my foil at one of her eyes. She screeched and covered it with one of her pedipalps, using the other to try and keep me at bay. She then ignored the pain and leapt at me. I turned away and climbed up a prison wall, throwing an Orc at her. She knocked it aside as I tumbled down her back. I landed on the ground while Shelob kept to the high ground. She then did something that she never did in Middle-Earth!

“Shelob, TERRORIZE!” she announced Her transformation was like Tarantulas’, even her robot mode. It took the appearance of his season 1 body. She was much more massive than Tarantulas and had three digited fingers instead of two digited claws.

“When did you become a Transformer?!” I asked.

“I sampled the spark inside a protoform,” explained Shelob. “It altered my genetic structure and made me into the Predacon I am now.” She jumped down, drawing a blade that dripped with a liquid I was sure was venom. I kept rolling out of the way while she jabbed the ground. I had lost my grip on my foil. My i.d tag came out of the belt. Oddly, my transformation wasn’t cancelled. It was then I noticed a slot my i.d tag could fit into in the handle of my foil. Shelob jabbed again with her knife while I rolled to my blade and dodged another jab as I rolled to my i.d tag. I inserted it into the handle’s slot, making it charge and surrounding the blade with blue light.

“Final Attack!” announced my foil. Shelob’s robot mode tummy was right over me.

“RIDER TOUCHÉ SLASH!” I shouted. The light swiped across Shelob’s abdomen, making it leak energon. She screeched in pain as she clutched it. I took my i.d tag and put it into my belt. I jumped up and prepared for my Rider kick. “RIDER TOUCHÉ KICK!” I shouted as my foot made impact on her eyes. They cracked, making them drip energon.

“MY EYES!” she shrieked. She doubled over and thrashed around in pain from her wounds. She limped off the battlefield, her broken gaze fixed on me. She soon disappeared from sight. I then turned to see my friends giving Tarantulas a hard time. He had a gaping wound in his chest. I grabbed a crystal shard and was about ready to plunge it into the wound, ready to kill. He grabbed my arms.

“Raw…energon!” I grunted. “Right through...your twisted…anti-spark! There’s a price to pay if you want to avoid it such a death!”

“ANYTHING!” begged Tarantulas, scared for his life.

“The poison you stuck Megumi with!” I snarled. “What is it?!”

“It’s a mix of my cyber-venom and the venom in Shelob’s stinger!” yelped Tarantulas. “I know the dosage of the antidote needed to cure her, but she may suffer from vomiting!”

“Get her on her side!” I barked to Richard as he cancelled his transformation. “Support her head with her arm! I don’t want her choking on her vomit!” Richard silently obeyed. “And you,” I whispered to Tarantulas, “if this is a lie, your spark is extinguished!”

“I’m currently too terrified to lie!” whimpered Tarantulas as he prepared the antidote. He then stuck the needle into her arm. We waited for a few seconds. It felt like an eternity, then I heard retching. Soon, Megumi threw up and coughed. The venom must have gone out as well. She slowly picked herself up with help from Batman and Gandalf. Relief passed over me like a wave. Tarantulas had fled, but I didn’t care.

* * *

It took me a while to finally see fully, but I was led to rest on a seat of rock. Soon, I could focus on things clearly. “What happened?” I slurred.

“That schemer, Tarantulas stuck you with a mix of his cyber-venom and the stuff in Shelob’s stinger,” explained Touché as she cancelled her transformation. Emily then sat near me. “Tarantulas had Shelob altered,” she continued.

“Altered?” I asked. “How?”

“She IS a Predacon,” elaborated Richard. “Emily engaged her in battle.”

“And won,” declared Emily. “Swallowing a Transformer’s spark can do that to you, apparently. During the fight, I discovered that our weapons have a slot for our i.d tags to initiate an attack. I used it and my Rider kick to come out the victor.”

“She then threatened to stab Tarantulas’ spark with raw energon unless he gave you the antidote,” continued Richard. “He did and said that a side effect would be throwing up.”

“That explains the burning in my mouth,” I mused. “Emily, we’ll discuss you hiding a fandom you like from us later. On the other hand, I’m in your debt for saving my life.”

“I’m trying to be a doctor,” assured Emily. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Oh yes, I do,” I insisted. “I’ll think of a reward for when we get back.” I got up slowly, no ill effects were showing. “So, am I cleared for duty?” I asked Emily.

“I’d say you are,” declared Emily.

“Much better,” cheered Wyldstyle. “Now, to get through that doorway!” She pointed to the gates of Barad-dûr. We approached it.

“Let the Dark Lord come forth!” I called. “Let justice be done upon him!” No one replied. The gates then slowly opened to let someone on a black horse come out. The rider dressed in black robes and wore a black helmet that made him look like some sort of evil priest. I was amazed that he could guide his horse because I saw no eye holes. All I saw was an enlarged, diseased mouth with splits around his lips that opened every time he spoke.

“I am the Mouth of Sauron!” the rider proclaimed.

“His emissary, you mean,” I muttered. “I don’t wish to talk to you, but your master!”

“He has business that occupies his time,” answered the Mouth, “and sends me to bid thee welcome to New Mordor.” He appeared to glance around at us. “Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?” he asked. “Not thou, little girl. It takes more to make a monarch than a rabble like this.”

“You have no choice but to speak with me!” I snarled. I think my tone spooked his horse a bit as it stepped back.

“I am an emissary and ambassador and may not be assailed!” cried the Mouth.

“Where such laws apply,” I observed. “No one has made a move against you. I am the leader of this group and will be treated as such!”

“Very well,” growled the Mouth. “My master, Sauron the Great, has bidden me to give thee terms and tokens.”

“Your master’s terms first!” I demanded. Not exactly politic, but I wanted the Keystone out of Sauron’s grasp quickly.

“First,” began the Mouth, “all lands once labeled Metropolis and Gotham must surrender to Sauron utterly. They will be his, and his alone, and they shall be called New Mordor. All of their surrounding cities and those protecting those cities must swear oaths never to raise arms in secret or openly. All those wishing to live must pay tribute to New Mordor once a year.”

“These are heavy terms,” I said. “Would you mind if I make counter-terms?”

“Name them,” demanded the Mouth.

“Tell your master this; his armies are to disband!” I hissed. “He must swear an oath to gather his men and leave these lands, never to return! We did not come here to treat with Sauron or his slave, O Faithless and Accursed!” The Mouth laughed.

“And that leads into the tokens I was bidden to show thee!” he chuckled. He dropped a sack in front of us, which opened and spilled. The contents…oh, I wish I didn’t see them. They included, but were not limited to, my mother’s glasses, Robin’s boot, Frodo’s cloak, Ichimonji’s jacket, and MetalBeard’s cannon.

“Ichimonji!” breathed Hongo.

“Quiet!” I directed.

“No!” wailed Emily, about to cry as she held her father’s scarf.

“Quiet!!” I called, my own grief about to come up.

“The hostages on Foundation Prime were dear to thee, I see,” hissed the Mouth in delight. “Know that they suffered greatly at the hands of their host! Who would have thought ones like them could endure so much pain? And they did, Megumi. They did.” That did it. I drew myself up to my full height and strode to the emissary of Mordor. “And what do you intend to do?” he asked. “None may attack an emissary.”

“You lost that right the instant you presented these things to us and taunted us!” I snarled before I leapt up, my blade liberating his head from his shoulders. As his lifeless body fell from the horse that took off in fright, I turned to my friends. “I don’t believe that they’re dead!” I declared. “Not until I have definitive proof!” The gates had shut at that time.

“Let me show you how it’s done,” called Wyldstyle. She used her Master Builder powers to make a massive turret to blow the gates down. “Yeah! That takes care of that thing!” said Wyldstyle.

“I’m calling that thing after the Orcs’ battering ram, Grond!” I cheered. I then faced the now open gates. “CHARGE!” I shouted. We ran into Barad-dûr and ploughed through Sauron’s forces to enter his throne room. Sauron sat with Turretorg and Discornia flanking him and the Keystone set on the headrest of his seat.

“She said you would come,” rumbled Morgoth’s former Lieutenant, “to save the weak.”

“‘She said’?” asked Batman. “Who said? Did Discornia there say?”

“No,” corrected Discornia, “it’s our immediate boss.”

+VORTECH IS NOT YOUR LEADER+ countered my belt.

“Beg pardon?” I asked.

+VORTECH HAS BRAINWASHED TARLAXIANS TO SERVE HIM+ explained my belt.

“Tarlaxians?” I asked. “You mean people like Turretorg and Discornia?”

+CORRECT+ confirmed my belt.

“Innocent people brainwashed into service,” I muttered, “can this get any harder?”

“We are advanced Vortexons!” argued Turretorg. “Not filthy Tarlaxians!”

“I can handle these liars,” purred a voice. A woman stepped out from behind Sauron’s throne.

“Igura!” exclaimed Hongo.

“Surprise!” she laughed.

“How are you alive?!” yelped Hiroki. “A crazed Urga killed you!”

“Vortech saw fit to resurrect me,” explained Igura. “It made Death a little mad, though. Not that I care. I have enough power to defeat her. Hiro fought against War and Death and survived.”

“That HAS to be a joke!” protested Lukas.

“It isn’t,” insisted Igura. “And with the technology Shocker Nova has at its disposal now,” she revealed a belt that looked like an eagle sitting on Earth with its wings at its sides, “we have a perfect Rider.” She crossed her left arm in front of her, with the hand in a clawed fashion, and slowly moved it across the front with her right hand at her hip. “Nova…” she began. Her left hand then went to her hip as her right hand moved across her front with a clawed hand. “HENSHIN!” She then opened the wings of the eagle so it looked like it was about to take flight. The Earth it sat on split open to reveal a small red fan. She jumped up, the wind pressure turning the fan to form a suit! Instead of a grasshopper design, like Hongo’s suit, Igura’s suit was more bird like. It was brown with a gold, triangular face guard, had red eyes, talons on the fingers, wings folded back, and clawed boots. “I am Shocker Nova’s first Rider,” purred Igura. “Kamen Rider Talon! Your finances are in grave danger!”

“Enough!” boomed Turretorg. “Let’s just kill them!”

“They and the west shall fall!” confirmed Sauron

“Silence, fiend!” bellowed Gandalf to Sauron. The room went quiet as Gandalf spoke. “You’ve fallen far, ‘Lord’ Sauron. Serving another, now, are you?”

“I serve no one, Gandalf Stormcrow!” snarled Sauron. “All serve me!”

“Idea for new name when I get tired of Wyldstyle: Stormcrow!” mused Wyldstyle.

“Hold on,” stopped Kamen Rider Talon, Igura, “I thought you said that, and I quote, ‘Lord Vortech wanted to give me this dimension if I retrieved the Keystone.’”

“I lied!” explained Sauron. “Spiders! Nazgûl! Daleks! Orcs! Slay them!”

“Daleks?!” I yelped. The room started shaking. A hologram was canceled to reveal that we were on the hull of a saucer.

“A Dalek Command Saucer!” called Michael.

“Not those trashcans again!” I moaned. The saucer then rose with Sauron’s throne in the center, shrouded in a dark cloud. That’s when the Nine landed. That’s right, the Nine Former Kings of Men, together again.

“Wow,” whispered the Witch-King, “I can’t believe they fell for that!”

“We didn’t have enough time to rehearse!” whispered East. “Good work, Khòrena!”

“Thanks!” whispered Dwimmerlaik.

“Wait, that whole break-up was…?” I began.

“An act!” whispered the Witch-King of Angmar. “And you were stupid enough to fall for it!”

“So was me being your hostage!” called Tarantulas’ voice. He came down in robot mode.

“The wounds Touché gave me, on the other pedipalp!” Shelob in her new robot mode jumped down with other spiders. “Those were real! I won’t waste time playing with you lot!” That’s when hatches in the Dalek ship opened up to let Daleks and Orcs come out.

“You’re hopelessly outmatched!” roared an Orc.

“You will be exterminated!” Guess who said that.

“That’s it, enough of these lies!” I snapped. We grabbed our i.d tags and Hongo struck his Henshin pose.

“Rider…” he began.

“Henshin!” we all announced. We formed our suits and drew our weapons. As usual, Outback started us off.

“Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“SLAY THEM ALL!” ordered Sauron from inside the shroud.

“I’ll have your head for this!” screeched Talon. We all fought the forces of darkness, eight legged or not. A Dalek fired on us, but we got out of the way and it killed a spider.

“WATCH YOUR AIM!” roared Shelob.

“…Oops,” mumbled the offending Dalek. Shelob then readied her beast mode’s legs as if they were guns, which, we had quickly discovered, they were. She fired upon us, wildly though. She hit more of her allies than us. In fact, none of us were hit. Gandalf had opened a hatch in the ship and extracted parts. Wyldstyle constructed a lamp from the parts and shined it on the shroud surrounding Sauron. He snarled, but the shroud stayed.

“We need more!” called Touché.

“Let me handle him!” demanded Talon. She opened a hatch to allow a Dalek to get out.

“Non-Dalek life forms detected!” it squawked. “Exterminate!” Talon then pulled her hand back in a claw fashion and then thrust it forward into the Dalek. Bits of its now dead occupant dripped off the hand. She flicked it off and got more parts, building the second lamp herself.

“Interesting what a scientist can make,” she mused, “even if it’s rudimentary.” The lamp shined on Sauron’s shroud.

“Vortech won’t like you attacking an ally!” called Sauron.

“You invaded a dimension without his permission,” countered Talon.

“Is he really going to believe that?” asked Sauron. “I can say, with certainty, that you will be blamed for attacking an ally. It is…what’s the phrase…your flimsy word over mine!”

“You’re right,” agreed Talon. “Without evidence, my word is flimsy. Good thing I have evidence.”

“Do share it,” invited Sauron.

“Incoming transmission from Foundation Prime!” reported a Dalek. Wyldstyle had managed to make a third lamp. I told her to wait.

“Go ahead and take it,” suggested Talon.

“Put it through,” commanded Sauron.

“I obey!” confirmed the Dalek. It connected to a terminal to let a hologram of Vortech and Hiro through.

“Greetings, Master,” began Sauron to Vortech.

“Spare me the false praise!” snarled Vortech.

“Who’s that?” asked Batman.

“The enemy,” I replied, keeping it vague on purpose.

“Er…Master?” asked Sauron.

“Tell me, Sauron,” hissed Hiro, “have you heard of a live-stream?”

“…A flow of water that is alive?” guessed Sauron.

“Not even close,” corrected Vortech. “A live stream is a term when humans display their moving pictures and speech at the time they are at an event. They make it public and put it out on billions of computers through a process called ‘streaming’.”

“And it is in real time, live on the scene,” continued Hiro. “Thus, live-stream.”

“I fail to see how…” began Sauron.

“On top of that, have you heard about eyes that work like a video camera?” asked Hiro.

“Like a what?” spluttered Sauron.

“They’re machines that take pictures, capture voices, and string them together to make an exact replica of something that happened,” explained Hiro. “Some cameras are made to look like a person’s eyes and can capture what the person sees if these cameras replace the eyes.”

“I still don’t see…” Sauron stopped when he saw the battle from another person’s point of view in real time. He saw the left side of his head and realized why live-streams and video camera eyes were brought up. He turned to Talon and made the connection. She waved. “YOU DIDN’T…! YOU…!” spluttered Sauron. “HOW LONG?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN…LIVE-STREAMING?!”

“You catch on to the terminology quick,” praised Talon as her eyes recorded the reaction. “In any case, to answer your question, since Barad-dûr landed here. I’ve recorded everything, even Tarantulas dissecting one of the spiders here and eating its remains later.”

“What?!” snarled Shelob. Tarantulas spluttered. The spiders stared at their metal companion with malice.

“We’ve been deceived!” shrieked a spider.

“I’m gonna mount your head on my mantelpiece, traitor!” promised another.

“KILL HIM!” roared Shelob. They ran at Tarantulas, who tried to escape. Soon he tripped over the edge with all the spiders following him.

“That takes care of them,” muttered Talon. She turned to Sauron. “And now, for you!”

“We’ve been spied on!” roared an Orc, slow on the uptake.

“I’m gonna enjoy having my way with you!” shouted another, Shagrat. “I need offspring!”

“No! I need a cook!” bellowed another. Gorbag came up.

“She’s Sauron’s to do with as he wishes!” he snapped.

“I don’t take orders from stinking Morgul rats!” roared Shagrat.

“Get him!” shouted the second Orc. They started fighting each other.

“NO! IDIOTS!” shrieked the Witch-King as he flung Touché off of him. “GET THEM! THEY’RE THE ENEMY!”

“NOW!” I called. The third lamp shone on the shroud. Sauron screamed in pain as the light from the lamps burned his eyes. The ship then broke out of Barad-dûr.

“Careful!” demanded Gorbag. “I just paid off the insurance!” The ship stopped in front of the fiery eye that was reset atop the fortress. The lamps were destroyed as the shroud returned around Sauron.

“When in doubt,” muttered the Dark Lord, “Keystone power.” He grabbed the Keystone from the throne. “I see you!” he said. “Locate help from D-C-C-0-M-1-C-5!” A portal opened and deposited a searchlight onto the ship. “Blind them!” shouted Sauron to his forces. Batman saw that the symbol on it was one that he was familiar with!

“The Bat-Signal?” he snarled. “Someone stole my Bat-Signal?! Someone like you, Sauron?!! Now that’s going too far!!”

“I’ve got an idea!” called Wyldstyle.

“Keep her covered!” I directed. Her Master build involved the Bat-Signal and a battery to power it.

“I said get the light and blind them!” ordered Sauron. The Orcs and Daleks were trying but failing as Batman shone it onto the shroud. It dissipated, leaving Sauron open. He grabbed his mace and went on the offensive. We managed to beat him back to his throne, which was surprising, considering he has the One Ring. He remade the shroud and unleashed magic chains. “Your struggle is meaningless!” he snarled. A news chopper for the Daily Planet got close as the photographer flashed his camera. Sauron snarled as he lost concentration on the chains, making them disappear. “You’ll PAY for this outrage! Locate help from M-1-D-D-L-3-3-A-R-T-H!” A horse drawn cart with fireworks came out of a new portal, minus the horse. He flung rubble at the news chopper, scaring it off.

“That’s my old cart!” yelped Gandalf. “Where in Middle-Earth did they find that?!” He got an idea. “You know, I believe that my new catchphrase would be appropriate for this instance. Sauron, prepare to see some fireworks!” He used his magic to launch the fireworks at the shroud.

“4th of July fireworks can’t top that!” called Sengoku.

“Speak for yourself!” replied Guard.

“Save our American ego for later!” snapped Touché. “Besides, our fireworks can’t make a dragon fly over the crowd and then make a fantastic boom!” Sauron’s shroud was gone again. He went on the attack again.

“RIDER CHOP!” called Ichigō as he delivered a chop that made Sauron stagger backwards. I then decided to take a page out of Touché’s book and inserted my i.d tag into the hilt of my sword. The blade was surrounded in blue light.

“Final Attack!” announced my blade.

“RIDER ROYAL SLASH!” I called. I swung down, making an arc of light rush towards Sauron, knocking him into his seat. He returned the shroud and chained us again.

“I shall rule all!” he proclaimed. An Orc had flung a Dalek at us, who regained itself in the air and charged towards Sauron, screaming bloody murder. It was destroyed, and the other Daleks saw this as betrayal and turned on the Orcs. The noise made Sauron lose concentration again and so he used the Keystone again. “Locate help from T-H-3-L-3-G-0-M-0-V-1-3!” he ordered. A school bus came in, although, it was modified with jet engines on the back.

“That’s from my dimension!” called Wyldstyle. “A bus driver had graduated from the Master Builder’s Academy and used his bus for his final! I was his teacher!” The bus driver came out.

“Professor Wyldstyle?” he asked. “What’s going on?!” Sauron screeched in anger. “Never mind, I can see for myself.”

“Only a powerful light can get rid of that shroud!” I told the driver.

“Leave it to me!” he assured. He dodged the stuff Sauron threw.

“Whoa!” yelped Wyldstyle. “Okay, wish this guy would stop throwing stuff!”

“How’s this?!” asked the bus driver. He made a light cannon out of the front of the bus. “I just need power to make it bright!”

“Allow me!” called Gandalf as he used his magic to extract wires that ran into the Dalek ship. They were soon connected.

“Thanks!” praised the bus driver. He then pointed the light cannon at the shroud and unleashed a bright light, destroying the Shroud. Sauron got mad and leapt at us. We got out of the way.

“RIDER KICK!” called Ichigō.

“RIDER ROYAL KICK!” I declared.

“RIDER TOUCHÉ KICK!” announced Touché.

“NOVA KICK!” shouted Talon. Sauron was knocked to the ground at the impact of our kicks.

“How…” wheezed the Dark Lord as he picked himself up, “is this possible?!” The eye on top of Barad-dûr vanished.

“This is not your domain!” explained Gandalf. “You have no power here, Sauron the Deceiver!”

“And to make sure you obey us in future,” said Talon. She then brought Sauron to his knees and held her foil at his neck. “Forces of Mordor, you will obey us or Sauron is crushed like a tin can!” Sauron’s forces considered, then kneeled. “I thought so.” A portal opened. “Witch-King, grab the Keystone!”

“No!” called Wyldstyle. She knocked out the Witch-King and grabbed the Keystone, nearly getting sucked into the portal. “Can someone give me a hand?!” asked Wyldstyle.

“Stop her!” ordered Talon. I kicked her aside as the rest of us fought off the Orcs and Nazgûl. Sauron was crushed like a tin can, but still alive, thanks to the Ring. He was sucked in. A giant hand then reached through the portal to grab the Keystone.

“Oh, yeah, not him, though!” yelped Wyldstyle. She lost her grip on the throne but was saved by Gandalf. She landed back on the hull. “Thanks!” she said.

“Must I do everything myself?!” snarled Talon. She charged at Wyldstyle as our ride home came up.

“Is that ours?” asked the bus driver.

“Yes!” answered Batman. “Move!” We made a break for the portal, taking the Keystone with us. It turned out to be an enemy portal as Vortech’s hand came through. We nearly went over the edge of the saucer before the Keystone opened a portal for us below the saucer.

“This way!” called Wyldstyle. We jumped in. Before Talon could grab us, the portal closed.

“NO!” she shouted. She screamed at the heavens as her transformation was canceled. Igura glared at the Orcs and Daleks as they tried to avoid her eyes. “Return to Foundation Prime!” she ordered. The saucer flew into their portal. Igura was defeated.


	19. Chapter 19

“My, Lord Sauron,” joked Lord Vortech. “You look a bit bent out of shape!”

“Not my doing,” replied Igura.

“Just what were you trying to pull here?!” snapped Hiro.

“A stupid move, if you ask me,” mused Ambassador Hell.

“No one asked you!” hissed Sauron. He limped off to reshape himself.

“Serves you right,” called Vortech.

“Excellent Nikujaga last night, Ambassador,” lauded Igura. “I had no idea you could cook.”

“I lived alone for a while,” answered Ambassador Hell. “Now, about the Riders…”

“Yes,” agreed Vortech, “it would seem the mice have escaped from my maze, and for some reason, I cannot locate them. So, Mr. Joker!” The Joker’s finger slipped on the trigger of the party gun he was pointing at Two-Face. “What do we do if we can’t find them?” continued Vortech.

“We make THEM find US?” asked the Joker.

“Precisely!” answered Vortech. “Hiro! Igura! With me! We’re going to find the next Foundation Element ourselves.”

“Try not to destroy anything in our absence,” called Hiro to their allies as he, Vortech, and Igura went to another dimension. The Joker felt a finger on his shoulder. He turned to the finger’s owner and got a slap from Two-Face, still sore about the party gun to his face. The Joker then tackled Two-Face and started brawling.

“A pity they don’t understand army discipline like we do, eh Lord Sauron?” asked Saruman to the newly made Sauron. The Dark Lord then slapped the Wizard of Many Colors upside his head.

“Don’t think I haven’t found out about your army of Uruk-Hai,” snarled Sauron.

“At least they understand teamwork, unlike your Orcs!” argued Saruman.

“Oh, feeling high and mighty, are we?!” growled Sauron.

“Mightier than you, perhaps!” snapped Saruman. “You were beaten down by children and you had the One Ring!”

“I warn you,” threatened Sauron, “I’m still the most powerful of us Maiar!”

“Considering a girl and a mortal man bested you in different ages,” argued Saruman, “that claim is under suspicion!”

“That’s it, COME HERE!” Sauron tackled Saruman and they started brawling. Lex Luthor just sighed.

* * *

While that went on, we tumbled through the gateway, landing on top of each other. We picked ourselves up and shook ourselves off. “Now THAT!” exclaimed the bus driver, “was AWESOME!” Something then sparked in his brain. “Everything is awesome!” he sang, poorly. “Everything is cool when you’re part of…”

“NO!” shouted Wyldstyle. “None of that! I hate that song!”

“Well done, Wyldstyle,” praised Gandalf. “It would have been a long way down had you not opened that rift.”

“Yeah,” agreed Batman, “I get the feeling that Keystone’s gonna come in handy.”

“Let’s find out how to use it properly then,” suggested Wyldstyle. The Keystone then floated in the air.

“This is the Locate Keystone,” explained the voice as the Keystone attached to the gateway. “Now you can help me find my car keys. I’m just kidding, maybe later.”

+GATEWAY 100% STABILIZED+ announced my belt. +ALL SYSTEMS FULLY OPERATIONAL+ A portal opened for the bus driver.

“Well, I gotta go,” he said. “The Missus hates it when I’m late. Before I go, something for your trouble.” He handed us a bag of, you guessed it, studs. He went through the portal and left us.

+TOTAL STUDS IN BAG EQUAL 125,000+ reported my belt. +CURRENT CUMULATIVE STUD TOTAL IS NOW 725,000+

“I’m surprised you haven’t spent them,” whispered a woman’s voice. We whirled around to see Death herself sipping tea with the Brigadier and Elphaba. Rusty was serving them.

“Would you like some sugar?” he asked Death.

“Two will suffice,” whispered Death. Rusty spooned out two lumps. “Thank you,” whispered Death.

“You’re welcome!” reciprocated Rusty.

“How did you get here?!” I yelped.

“I’m Death,” whispered the Grim Reaper. “I go anywhere. I presume you’ve heard of the two riders that can beat Vortech?”

“That’s right,” I confirmed.

“Well, we have our Kamen Rider Apocalypse being trained,” whispered Death. “Her name is Lacey and she came from Dimension T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5.” I blinked.

“The Simpsons?” I repeated.

“She’s tried to keep the damage in Springfield down to a minimum,” whispered Death. “She’s a sweet Goth girl who wants to expand her multiversal understanding. She’s doing very well in that regard at After Academy.”

“That just leaves Kamen Rider Vortex,” muttered Emmanuel.

“And I believe that Rider to be one of you,” whispered Death.

“My Lady,” I quizzed, “are you sure?”

“Very sure,” whispered Death. “You have to admit, no one else would have the Vortex Drivers if they didn’t have the courage to accept them.” I considered Death’s words. She was right, taking this mess on would scare the average person. Joshua nearly backed out but found courage when he remembered his father…dear Lord, I forgot!

“My Lady,” I began.

“Just call me Death,” whispered Death. “I consider you to be friends.”

“Well, Death,” I continued, “it’s about the hostages in Vortech’s domain.”

“Your loved ones?” whispered Death.

“Yes, the Mouth of Sauron said that they suffered before they died,” I explained.

“That is a lie, and I can prove it!” whispered Death harshly. She handed me a book. “This is the Book of Fate, my cousin,” whispered Death. “I have it on loan from him. Inside it details the futures of everyone in the multiverse. Open it and speak the name of the person you want to know about.” I was hesitant but opened it.

“Haruna Hishikawa,” I requested. It started forming an image. It was from the view of another person. This person was shouting in Japanese at Vortexons and giving one of them bruises. The hand the person had was one I recognized. Mom was alive and giving her captors grief! I sighed in relief and showed it to Hiroki. He laughed.

“Mom said she would give jailers grief!” he cheered.

“The same is true for the other hostages,” whispered Death. “They are ALL alive and well and causing stress for the enemy. Hence, their sloppiness.”

“You have no idea what weight has been lifted from our shoulders!” exclaimed Xiomara.

“Now, the reason for my visit,” whispered Death. “It’s about the nightmare you’ve all been having. Something is infecting your brains and is making you rather sloppy with lack of decent sleep.”

“And you’re here to cure it?” I asked.

“No, sadly, I cannot,” whispered Death. “Not without the identity of the creature. All I did last night was banish it temporarily. The way to achieve a cure is for everyone to sleep close together.”

“Then we’re gonna sleep in here,” I affirmed, gesturing to the Gateway room at large. “This nightmare has been driving me berserk and I want it gone!”

“I would recommend getting a good dinner and a comfortable set of night clothes,” whispered Death. “The wardrobe is over near your room, Your Highness.” After dinner, Death led us to the wardrobe near my room. It was like the TARDIS in that it was bigger on the inside! It seemed to be an entire city devoted to clothes! Various outdoor stalls on many levels and paths going above and below us were displaying proudly on streets named Petticoat Lane, T-Shirt Avenue, Jean Street, and other various street names like that. “The nightclothes should be on Sleepwear Avenue, level 4 below you,” whispered Death. “When you’re finished, just say that you want the path for the exit and the floor will show you the way. I must set up our bed. See you later.” She left the room and shut the door.

“…I guess we just grab our pj’s,” I muttered. We went down a couple of levels via an elevator and got our nightwear. I asked for the path back up and it flashed green. We followed it and made our way to the gateway room. It had a large bed to fit us all with a black and white color scheme, black being dominant.

“Is everyone ready?” asked Death.

“We are,” I confirmed.

“Then let’s get some sleep,” whispered Death. We all tucked in for the night and drifted off.

* * *

The dream was still the same one. “This is rather unpleasant looking,” whispered Death.

“Why me though?” I asked. “Why do they attack me?” My answer wasn’t gonna come as the bodies came up.

“Failure!” accused Batman’s body.

“You let us down!” hissed Hongo’s body.

“I’m very disappointed, Ms. Hishikawa,” snarled a broken Brigadier.

“Extermination is too good for you!” droned a broken Rusty.

“I wasted a second chance at life for YOU?!” shrieked Elphaba. “I can’t believe Death wanted to give me a chance!” Death raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t tell her anything about her resurrection,” she whispered.

“Unimportant!” declared Richard’s body. “What IS important is that Megumi joins me as a restless beast, as she should have been!”

“Beast?” I asked “As I should have been? ‘Me’?” The clues then fell into place. I grinned. “All right, let’s do it,” I declared. “Convert me.” Richard’s body raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you hear me? Convert me! I order you, convert me!” Richard stared, then all my friends shrugged. Richard’s body grabbed my shoulder. I then grabbed the arm. “Now,” I snarled as I decayed, “remove yourself from my friends, Hiro, or perish!” The eyes of my friends goggled. “That’s right,” I hissed, “I know who you are! You’ve been trying to make me doubt the strength of my friends. You’ve tried to undo the repairs to my psyche that my mother, Haruna, made after she adopted me! Now, get out of our minds!” My friends’ bodies stared, then, with a united voice, they started cackling. They spoke in Hiro’s voice.

“You have no power here, failure!” he declared in all my friend’s mouths. “I will not rest until I correct a mistake I made! You cannot beat me! I bested Death over there and I’ll beat her and you!” Then, as I decayed completely, Richard’s body shook. “What the?” yelped Hiro’s voice. Soon, all of my friends started shaking. A black ooze started coming out. Soon, Richard’s arm grabbed the ooze and started pulling it! He was reasserting control, finally!

“GET OUT OF OUR HEADS!” he roared in his normal voice. All of those Hiro infected were doing the same. Soon, they all pulled the black stuff out of their bodies and threw it to the ground. It started moving towards them in patches. Even still decayed, we managed to escape the stuff, with Death’s help, of course. Finally, the ooze patches came together and formed a humanoid shape. Then, like Venom’s symbiote, it peeled away from Hiro’s body and then formed the Rogue Driver, complete with guns.

“That’s it, taking the direct route!” he declared as he loaded his i.d tag into his guns. “Henshin!” He formed the suit and became… “Kamen Rider Rogue! Stand and deliver!” he said.

“I won’t be beaten by you again!” whispered Death. She pulled out her own belt and put it on.

“You’re a Kamen Rider?” asked Hongo.

“Became one a few years ago,” whispered Death. She then grabbed the skull on the front. “Henshin!” She rotated the skull right-side up and snapped the jaw shut.

“Death!” it announced. Her own suit formed.

“Kamen Rider Death!” she announced. “You cannot delay your appointment with me!” She drew her scythe and swung it at Rogue, who whirled away. He then pulled the handles on the guns down to make them straight. He then combined them to extend half of a blade from the barrels and uniting them to make a short sword. Both blades clashed and their owners struggled to get their respective weapons to hurt the other.

“We need to do something!” I hissed.

“Like what?!” asked Batman.

“I don’t know, but Death needs help!” I observed.

“You see the kind of power Hiro’s packing?!” argued Richard.

“I don’t care if he’s a god!” I countered. “I will bring him down no matter what!” Just then, a golden light flew towards me. It stopped and hovered for a second. I was compelled to touch it and let my hand go towards it. The instant I made contact, the light became a new device. It was cream colored with gold trim in a fire shape and a blue circle in the middle like my Vortex Driver. I examined the device and saw a slot on the top. It spat out an i.d tag, my own, in fact! “A new Driver?” I asked. “Only one thing to do!” I put it on my waist as it formed a golden belt strap.

“It has the old Imperial Dalek colors!” observed Rusty. Then, all at once, the decay we all suffered seemed to vanish! Flesh flowed back onto our bones! Metal came back together and polished itself on Rusty and the Brigadier!

“Henshin!” I announced. I inserted the i.d tag and ran through the circle. I appeared in my suit and drew my blade, the metal of it flashing as I swung at Rogue He managed to duck and give a sucker punch.

+NEW FUNCTION+ “available” said my belt. I didn’t register that it changed tones. An H.U.D flashed up in my helmet, detailing poses and what I need to say to activate and an image of the final result. I then pressed my hands as if in prayer, then crossed them so my hands touched my shoulders, then held my hands up and formed an energy ball.

“SUPER CHARGE!” I shouted. A bolt of yellow lightning struck me but didn’t hurt me. All of a sudden, a surge of power ran through me. I felt my suit change somehow, but I couldn’t place what changed. Everyone gawked.

“Her colors match the new belt!” yelled Rusty.

“Her suit’s as bulky as mine!” called Hongo. My sword materialized. It had gotten longer and wider and gained a hand guard. The guard seemed to have a rail that the main golden blade would travel on to fold onto the outside of my arm. It had a split to account for left handers. A hole was at the front of the guard, just under the rail’s split, leading me to believe that the rail was part of a firearm mode for my blade. I charged at Rogue and managed to knock him down with my blade. He picked himself up, trying to comprehend what was going on.

“Mid-season upgrade!” observed Hiroki.

“It’s the end for you,” I declared to Rogue. “From what the H.U.D in my helmet’s telling me, you now face Kamen Rider Proto-Vortex!” It was then that I realized how stupid the name was but didn’t say anything. I moved the blade down the right-side branch of the rail and folded it back against my arm. I then took out my i.d tag and put it into a slot on the hand guard’s rear.

“Final Attack!” announced my weapon. I then pointed my weapon at Rogue, Death got out of the way. The whole weapon glowed gold and made a yellow energy ball.

“Rider Proto Blast!” I called. I pressed a button concealed in the handle and unleashed the energy ball. It grew as it travelled towards Rogue. It knocked him down. When he picked himself up, he started going into spasms and sparked everywhere. A classic trope for most Japanese villains and monsters. When defeated, they spark and spasm for a while and say something before exploding. I turned around to face my audience. Death looked at me oddly.

“Er, why…?” she asked.

“Heroes don’t look at explosions,” I explained. Death looked back and forth between me and Rogue, then turned around fully and made an awkward attempt to strike a dynamic pose.

“SO BE IT!” declared Rogue. “YOU’VE WON THE BATTLE, BUT NOT THE WAR! I WILL BE VICTORIOUS!”

“Don’t hold your breath,” I quipped. Then, BOOM! The backwash of heat came over me. As it did, the dream faded and we woke up. It wasn’t in a cold sweat this time. A brief intake of air and we rubbed our eyes, getting out of bed. Death stretched.

“That was exciting!” she whispered.

“So, no more of Hiro attacking us in our dreams?” I asked.

“No more of Hiro attacking you in your dreams,” confirmed Death. “And gaining the Proto Supreme Vortex Driver to boot, I’m amazed!”

“Too bad it’s a dream,” I sighed. “That kind of power was awesome!”

“A dream?” asked Death. “Check your Driver again.” I blinked.

“But it was just a…” I began. I had grabbed my Driver at that time and felt something different. I looked to see that I held the same belt as in my dream. “What the?”

“The Proto Supreme Vortex Driver,” whispered Death, “is a test to see if the user is truly the one to be Kamen Rider Vortex. For now, you are Kamen Rider Proto-Vortex.”

“Can I still call myself Kamen Rider Royal?” I asked.

“Username accepted,” answered my belt in a woman’s voice.

“What the?” I yelped again.

“Your belt’s A.I,” whispered Death, confused, “has changed as well.”

“It’s been some time, old friend,” sighed my belt.

“If you’re someone I took in,” whispered Death, “you’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Well,” mused my belt, “we did take in tea for a while.”

“Doesn’t exactly narrow things down,” whispered Death.

“We founded a school together with War, Pestilence, and Famine,” continued my belt.

“Now THAT narrows it down to three,” whispered Death.

“The school would train those that have potential to become Apocalypse,” finished my belt. Death’s eyes went wide.

“Queen Vortoranii?!” she yelped. “Good lord, what happened?! You disappeared from my realm a while ago!”

“I had pressing business, such as watching Vortech,” explained Vortoranii.

“Now I get it!” I declared. “You buried your soul deep into the Vortex Driver’s code so it could pick its host carefully!”

“Exactly!” confirmed Vortoranii. “And the prototype Driver, the Rogue Driver of Vortech’s design, chose its host before I found one for me. When it started moving, I followed it and copied my soul into sixteen equal clones, each holding a fragment of the map to find the Kamen Riders, Apocalypse and Vortex.”

“And so, you built drivers to counter Hiro’s!” guessed Emmanuel.

“Right again!” confirmed Vortoranii.

“Oh, I can’t wait to use this in real life!” I giggled. “My…Precious!”

“Hey, Gollum,” quipped Richard, “if you could put it down, we still have questions to ask Her Majesty, like why Vortech’s gathering Foundation Elements and enslaved the Tarlaxians.”

“He’s WHAT?!” yelped Vortoranii. “Oh, sweet Lord, NO! Why would he do that?!”

“Well?” I asked. “Can you offer any explanation?”

“Sadly, no,” sighed Vortoranii. “The only one who could offer an explanation would be my spy, X-PO, but I have no idea where he followed Vortech.”

“We better find X-PO soon,” whispered Death as she made the bed disappear. “Vortech found Foundation Prime and has a few Foundation Elements in his possession.”

“Where are YOU going?” I asked Death as she made a portal.

“To the previous dimension you were in,” she whispered in reply. “Quite a few people died there and I need to get a few of them to rest easy.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering the Orc prison in front of Barad-dûr. Death had a job to do.

“See you later,” whispered Death. “Hopefully, I won’t have to do my job with you any time soon.” She departed. I then noticed I was still tired.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Midnight,” reported Vortoranii.

“We better head to our rooms and go to sleep,” I mused.

“Your Highness,” asked Emily, “do you mind if Richard and I have a sleepover with you?”

“Sure,” I agreed. We headed to our rooms, with Richard and Emily following me, and climbed into bed. Our sleep was a lot more restful.

* * *

Death arrived in the DC comics world. She swung heard scythe at a woman’s body. “May I give you a hand?” she whispered.

“Sure, thanks,” replied the woman in a Cockney accent. “Here, your hands’re freezing, miss!”

“Sorry,” whispered Death.

“Grief, how am I gonna explain this whole thing to my boss?” asked the woman. “I missed me flight, and he’s going to be footing the bill. That’s the last thing he does for me before giving me the sack!”

“Ah,” whispered Death, “well, there, I have good news for you, Ms. Katrina Tyler. Er, then again, I have some bad news as well.” She gestured to Katrina’s body. Her soul looked at it and made the connection.

“So, you’re…” she gulped.

“Yes,” whispered Death.

“So, do I have to…go through a door…or some such thing?” asked Katrina.

“Through a door?” asked Death.

“It’s just that,” explained Katrina, “back home, the priest said that we always approach Death’s door, and then you decide where we go, and…”

“The decision of Heaven or Hell is out of my hands,” explained Death. “As for a door, I expect it depends in the direction you’re walking in.” She led Katrina off and faded with her.


	20. Chapter 20

I stretched in my bed, the new dream I had being pleasant and restful. I got up and saw Richard stirring. Emily wasn’t in bed, must have woken up before us. Hope her dreams were restful. I stroked Richard’s hair and blushed. My mind wandered to a possible future with me as his wife, ruling a fairytale land. However, I suppressed such thoughts as Vortech was a more immediate priority. I came into my bathroom to wash my face. The door shut and I saw Emily in the mirror. “Why don’t you just tell my brother you love him instead of burying such thoughts?” she whispered. Curse her sharpness.

“Vortech is a more important priority,” I replied.

“Those feelings you have aren’t new,” she countered. “You’ve had them for a while, before we came here.”

“He’s more interested in the duties of being a knight instead of romance,” I argued.

“Are you sure?” asked Emily. I turned to face her, blinking. “I’ve seen the way he makes the goo-goo eyes at you.”

“He what?” I yelped. He’s making lovey eyes at me?! How did I not notice?! At that point, I heard a knock.

“YO! ROSE BUSH!” called Richard to Emily. “ARE YOU DONE?! SOME OF US NEED SHOWERS!”

“Just a sec!” I replied, then covered my mouth.

“My Lady?!” yelped Richard, embarrassed. “Er, take your time!”

“Come in here, actually,” I requested. “I want to ask you something.” Richard stepped in. “Richard, I need to ask this so I can concentrate on Vortech. Emily said that you made eyes at me, eyes of love.” Richard glared at his sister. “Does she speak the truth?” Richard sighed, letting his guard drop.

“Yes, my Lady,” he responded.

“Good,” I answered, “because I have those same feelings.” Richard brightened at that. “However,” I continued, “intimacy will have to wait until we beat Vortech.” He frowned at that.

“Dude,” protested Emily, “not cool!”

“I need to focus our efforts onto cleaning this mess up and getting our loved ones back,” I explained.

“Oh, very well,” muttered Richard.

“I failed the Bechdel test for THAT?!” wailed Emily.

“Let’s just get ready for the next dimension,” I suggested.

“Not even a kiss?” protested Emily.

“Emily, why are you so hell-bent on trying to hook me and Megumi up?!” asked Richard. “This isn’t the first time you tried to pull this stunt! Can’t you just let us discover things ourselves?! Why are you so insistent…?”

“Because I don’t want you to end up like Paw Paw!” exclaimed Emily.

“Paw Paw?” I asked.

“Our dad’s father,” replied Richard. “And, why mention Paw Paw?”

“Do you know why he married Maw Maw?” asked Emily. I guessed that was Paw Paw’s wife. “Because he was told to marry her,” continued Emily. “His heart belonged to someone else, but his parents wouldn’t hear of it. He suppressed his emotions and followed his parents’ wishes, like a ‘good man’. Now, jealousy eats away at him since Dad didn’t marry the girl Paw Paw told him to marry. If anything, he proved what just obeying parents totally does to you.”

“Hence, why Dad says that a human who just follows orders...” guessed Richard.

“Is no true human at all,” finished Emily. I then considered my own lifestyle. Contrary to most Japanese people, I didn’t have much in the way of being told to follow orders. Mom just influenced where I should direct my scrappiness. I could understand where their parents came from.

“I can understand your intentions,” remarked Richard, “but, in this instance, I must invoke Mom’s rule of ‘Let people make their own mistakes’.”

“As do I,” I agreed. Emily shuffled her feet. “Still, I do appreciate the attempts. Let’s just put this to bed for now.”

“All right,” she mumbled.

“Now, Richard,” I declared, “if the ladies could have our privacy.” Richard took the hint and left as we got dressed. Emily apparently had a clothes ritual too. I never knew that.

  1. Put the top part on while going up from kneeling to standing.
  2. Put the non-connected sleeves on while going from kneeling to standing.
  3. Step into the dress part, then pull it to the waist going from kneeling to standing.
  4. Put her rose hair ornament on while kneeling, then twirl the ribbon while standing up and twirling herself.



As I watched that, I arched an eyebrow. “Did I inspire you in any way?” I asked.

“Yep!” confirmed Emily. “I kneel, then stand to emulate the flower I’m obsessed with.”

“You’re growing and blooming like a rose?” I guessed.

“Exactly!” she said. After I did my dress ritual, we left the bathroom and joined everyone in the cafeteria.

“Good morning!” I called pleasantly. Everyone reciprocated. It really felt like a good morning, since that collective nightmare Hiro caused was gone. We ate our breakfast and headed to the Gateway Room. Elphaba, Rusty, and the Brigadier had set our destination because they found a power signature there.

“It’s in a dimension called B-A-C-K-T-0-T-H-3-F-U-T-U-R-3!” reported Rusty.

“Everyone ready?” I asked the rest of the Vortex Riders. Everyone confirmed their readiness.

“Good luck,” called the Brigadier.

“CHARGE!” I rallied as we ran into the portal.

* * *

We ended up in a Western setting. I swear I could hear _Oh, My Darling Clementine_ somewhere. We exited the alley we landed in. A chicken popped out from Gandalf’s hat. He jammed his hat down to avoid Batman seeing it, then took it off to have an egg pop out. It landed on the ground intact! The mama chicken then flew out of the hat, flapping its wings and squawking like mad! Wyldstyle checked her scanner. “Any luck finding the power signature?” asked Batman. Wyldstyle shook her head as a long beep came from the scanner.

“It doesn’t even look like they’ve got electrical power!” reported Wyldstyle.

“Good grief, you’d think they’d have telegraphs!” I complained. “Last I checked, those needed electricity!”

“Well now, ladies,” called a voice in a thick cowboy accent. We jumped and turned to see a heavyset gentleman in a top hat and carrying a mayor’s ribbon on his person. “I assure you,” continued the Mayor, “we most certainly DO have power of the electrical persuasion! Behold, the town light-bulb!” He pointed to the single street lamp in the town. “And of course, we have telegraphs, my Chinese lady friend!”

“I’m Japanese, you twit!” I snapped. Seriously, it’s not that hard to keep straight! The street lamp’s bulb then went out.

“DAGNABBIT!” shouted the Mayor as he threw his hat to the ground.

“Are you in charge here?” asked Batman.

“Indeed!” confirmed the Mayor as he retrieved and dusted off his hat. “Mayor Hubert, at your service!”

“Have you seen anything…weird…around here?” asked Batman. I opened my mouth to counter Batman, but Mayor Hubert beat me to the punch.

“Well,” he whispered. He leaned in closer to Batman. “I do see a lady dressed in britches and a man in a dress!” Wyldstyle and Emmanuel heard that and made noises that showed their contempt for that comment. Before she could get any further, Wyldstyle’s scanner picked something up. She discreetly motioned her head in the direction of the power signature. Batman and I caught that and winked.

“We’ll just…take a look around,” commented Batman. “Thanks.”

“Oh, er,” stammered Mayor Hubert, “then, enjoy our fair town!” He then headed into a crowd blocking the streets. “I’m afraid it’s a little congested today!” As he left, the Marshal came up on his horse.

“Who are you?!” he demanded.

“You know, where I’m from, it’s only polite to introduce yourself before you ask questions,” I replied.

“I’m James Strickland, the town Marshal,” he introduced himself. “Now, who are you people?”

“I’m Princess Megumi Hishikawa,” I replied. “These are my friends, the Vortex Riders.”

“You guys don’t look like you’re from around here!” guessed Marshal Strickland. “Not by a long shot, no sir! Prove yourself to these good folk, and maybe they’ll accept you. Meanwhile, I have to go deal Stinky Lomax.” He charged off on his horse.

“Help out the citizens and get information,” mused Batman. “Sounds simple enough.” We headed over to a sign near a train station. An old man was trying to pose in front of it. It read “Honest Joe Statler’s Fine Horses, sold, bought, and traded.”

“Joe’s the name!” called the man. “Joe Statler… or… ‘Dishonest Joe’ as they call me. I’m trying to become a straight-edge business man and I need a change of image. ‘Honest Joe’, I’m thinking! Say, you strange…strangers…wouldn’t mind helping me complete my sign, would you? I need my photograph taken, but the photographer’s gone to see what’s going on down the main street!”

“Oh, we can help!” I replied. “Now, where’s the camera at?”

“Er, that’s another problem,” stammered Mr. Statler. “I don’t have a camera, per se. Can you wrangle one up for me?”

“Dishonest Joe is right,” I thought.

“Maybe a Master Build is needed,” mused Batman.

“Batman, we’re trying to blend in!” protested Haitao.

“We’re a bunch of people in fancy clothes and other costumes,” countered Richard. “I think a Master Build is the least of our worries.”

“Yes, our clothes are a little anachronistic for this area,” muttered Michael.

“That box needs to be opened,” observed Wyldstyle.

“I see a grapple hook,” I called. I then got out my i.d tag. “Batman, need any help?” I asked.

“Let’s do it,” replied Batman. “I want to see what Proto-Vortex is capable of.”

“Henshin!” I announced. I then put my i.d tag into the slot and jumped into the circle. I still ended up in my Royal suit. I then started the Super Charge sequence. “SUPER…!” Someone grabbed my arms. I looked down to see the owner’s face. “Hongo-san,” I asked. “may I have an explanation?”

“I wouldn’t go using your Super Charge form so recklessly,” explained Hongo. “You may not realize it, but there is a weakness in that form.”

“What weakness?!” I asked. Hongo said nothing as he released my arms. Batman looked at Hongo, guessing why he would say that. I stared, not getting an explanation of any kind, then resigned myself to staying in Royal form. I swapped out my i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” announced my belt in Vortoranii’s voice. I helped Batman open the box. Wyldstyle then used the parts inside the box, panels of a pile of boxes, and a camera light fixture to make a giant camera. She then jumped up onto the giant camera as Mr. Statler posed for the picture. Wyldstyle then took the picture and waited for the printout.

“Oh, darn it!” hissed Mr. Statler as he looked at the picture. “I think I blinked and I have something stuck in my teeth! That’s gonna be a terrible picture! Thanks anyway.”

“That’s one,” I observed. “Maybe another one can help?” Then we heard an Irish voice cry for help. The poor person looked like he was stuck head first in manure! Ugh! I saw a Keystone transmit…SHIMATTA! (Japanese word for when someone makes an error) “Who’s got the Locate Keystone?!” I asked. Everyone checked, but none had the Locate Keystone. “No!” I wailed. I face palmed with my left hand. I can’t believe we came here so unprepared!

“Er, my Lady,” quizzed Richard, “do you mind wiggling your fingers in front of your face?”

“What,” I muttered as I did so, “is this some obscure game Americans like to…?” I did a doubletake when I looked at my hand. On it was a Keystone gauntlet! “All right!” I cheered. I then ran through the instructions a few times, then decided to use my new powers. “Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” As I walked, my hand went greener and greener until a crack of white light appeared. “Identify source of rift!” I said. I then mimed pulling the sides of the rift crack open. My gauntlet then beamed the information of the crack’s origin into my head. “Locate help from T-H-3-L-3-G-0-M-0-V-1-3!” I ordered. A crane with a claw attachment then went through the crack.

“That’s from my home!” called Wyldstyle.

“And a solution presents itself!” I cheered.

“Allow me,” rasped Batman. Given that some of his crime fighting involves crane operation, I allowed him to help the man out. The crane swung around to hover over the man in the manure. He was then deposited away from the manure pile. He ran off to get himself cleaned after thanking us. “I don’t even want to know how this happened,” said Batman.

“Dismiss help!” I called. The crane then went into the rift it came out of. The crack then disappeared.

“Excuse me!” requested a man. He wore a Train Ticket Officer’s uniform. “Can you help me out?” asked the Ticket Officer. “I’m a spot of bother, you see. The train is stranded at the station and cannot continue on its journey.” Some of the tracks were missing! “Do you think you could help fix the track?” continued the Ticket Officer. “The supplies should be around here somewhere.”

“Allow me to fix it,” replied Gandalf. He found the rails and railroad ties (railway sleepers in the U.K.) and then examined the track ahead to gauge the measurements. While that was going on, Richard and Emily were geeking out over the train. They identified it as a 4-4-0 wheel configuration tender engine in the “American” style, a classic train used in westerns. A famous engine of that style was The General, a train that was stolen by Union spies during the Civil War in an event called the Great Locomotive Chase, or Andrew’s Raid, an attempt to cripple the Confederate Rail network. The Union spies were eventually captured, but not before damaging a vital Confederate Rail route called the Western and Atlantic Railroad. While the spies were captured, some were executed, the attempt was a success since Confederate forces couldn’t get warnings out along the route quickly enough, the Union spies cut the telegraph wires. Gandalf had fixed the tracks with his magic and the train proceeded on its way. The Ticket Officer was startled by the whole business.

“Er, I’ll pretend I didn’t see that strange heebie-jeebies nonsense,” he gulped, “as you’ve done us a good turn. Thank you kindly.”

“How do you get into these messes?!” asked a woman’s voice. We whirled around to see a woman in a miniskirt shouting at a man being hung upside down on a roof. Five humanoid monsters were shouting at him as well, a red one with an Oni appearance, a blue one with shell-like skin, a yellow one with a single horn in front and the body builder’s body, a purple one in a trench coat, a Japanese dragon’s head, and a pair of headphones, and a white one with a wing-like appearance to his head.

“Who are these guys?” I asked Hiroki.

“They’re the main cast of _Kamen Rider Den-O_ ,” explained Hiroki. He walked up to them. “Excuse me,” he called. The monsters and woman turned. “Can we help you at all?”

“Sure,” shrugged the Oni. “Before we start, I’m Momotaros, the leader of the Imagin with Ryōtarō Nogami up there.” he pointed to the upside down man.

“Can someone get me down?” asked Ryōtarō pitifully.

“Allow me,” called Hongo. He jumped up and untied Ryōtarō, holding on to his feet so he doesn’t make a splat landing. Hongo then jumped down and let Ryōtarō go.

“Poor guy has the worst luck in the world,” muttered Momotaros. “Kame-yarō (Turtle Jerk) over there,” he pointed to the blue monster, “is Urataros.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” purred Urataros as his pointer finger tilted my chin upwards. My response? I bent the finger backwards. I got a womanizer vibe from him. Momotaros started laughing.

“I’m already spoken for,” I hissed. Not entirely true, as Richard and I hadn’t formally declared we were boyfriend and girlfriend, but I didn’t want to give the guy a chance.

“I understand!” yelped Urataros. “Now, could you let go, please?!” I released him. He tended to his finger.

“Kuma (the bear) over there is called Kintaros,” growled Momotaros as he pointed to the yellow monster.

“Your strength would have made anyone cry,” answered Kintaros in a voice that made him sound like he was from Osaka in the Edo period, still used today under the dialect name Kansai-ben. “I am thoroughly impressed.”

“Hanakuso Onna (Nosy Woman) over there,” introduced Momotaros, pointing to the woman, “calls herself Hana.”

“Watch it!” snarled Hana with a slight bit of hate in her voice.

“And Hanatare Kozō (Snot-nosed Brat) is Ryutaros,” finished Momotaros.

“I’m not a brat!” whined Ryutaros in a childish way.

“And you forgot me, retainer,” called the white monster.

“Like you need to be introduced, Teba-Yarō! (Chicken Wing Jerk)” snapped Momotaros.

“Hardly the attitude of a hero,” mused the white monster.

“Are you kidding?!” screeched Momotaros. “Like a pompous idiot like you can be a hero!”

“Momotaros, Zu ga takai!” (Your head is high!) proclaimed the white monster. He then pointed at the hotheaded Momotaros and he shrunk the guy down to four inches. “Apologies, Hime,” (Princess) said the white monster as he walked towards me. He knelt as if addressing royalty. “I am Sieg, Prince of the Den-Liner.”

“The train of time,” explained Hiroki.

“And who is he?” asked Sieg. Momotaros then grew back to his usual height.

“This is my brother, Hiroki,” I replied. I introduced everyone to the Imagin, as Momotaros and his monster friends were called. Ryōtarō was surprised to hear we were Kamen Riders.

“So, you’re the first one?” asked Ryōtarō to Hongo.

“I am, indeed,” confirmed Hongo.

“Hey, guys!” I interrupted. “Main Street’s clear!” The people had decided to clear traffic.

“Moving on!” cheered Wyldstyle. She turned to the crew of the Den-Liner. “Wanna join us?”

“Sure,” replied Hana. “Anything to get out of this place. We have Imagin to get rid of.”

“I thought the monsters over there are Imagin,” I mused, pointing to Momotaros and the others.

“They’re useful,” replied Hana. “They help Ryōtarō become Kamen Rider Den-O.”

“Ryōtarō’s a Kamen Rider?” I quizzed, looking at the poor guy.

“He’s proven to be a capable warrior,” replied Hana. Suddenly, thunder clapped.

“Another rift?” asked Wyldstyle.

“A storm?” asked Gandalf. All of a sudden, a fireball spat something out before it disappeared. The object landed in front of us after some clumsy flying.

“No,” answered Batman, “a DeLorean.” The DeLorean was tricked out with something that made it spark. The driver, an old man with frizzy hair and a lab coat, stepped out.

“Well now,” asked Gandalf, “who’s this?”

“Great Scott!” yelled the man.

“Gandalf,” introduced Gandalf, taking what the man said out of context. “Pleased to meet you, Scott.”

“What?” asked the man.

“Gandalf, ‘Great Scott’ is just a saying,” I explained. “His name is Doctor Emmet Brown.”

“When am I?!” asked Doc Brown.

“‘When’ are you?” asked Batman. “Did you hit your head?” He looked up at a sign that advertised a town festival on Saturday Night, September 5th. It promised Food, dance, and games and all proceeds would go into the clock tower’s construction. “You’re in Hill Valley,” answered Batman. Doc Brown looked around and saw the construction of the clock tower going on.

“Oh, no no no!” he wailed. “This is terrible!”

“I don’t know,” countered Wyldstyle. “It has a certain old-timey charm to it.”

“This could destroy the space-time continuum!” cried Doc Brown. “I don’t belong here, not now!” A caravan was blocking the path and let some rubble fall onto the DeLorean. “Quickly!” yelped Doc Brown. “You have to help me move my car!”

“Yeah, a DeLorean in 1885 is a little anachronistic, ain’t it?” I muttered.

“1885?” asked Batman.

“Doctor Brown used a DeLorean,” explained Haitao, “to make a machine that can go into the past or the future.”

“Another time-travelling Doctor?!” said Batman, exasperated.

“Great Scott,” gulped Gandalf.

“Great Scott, indeed!” agreed Doc Brown. “Quick! We need to move the DeLorean as soon as possible!” He turned the key, but the engine wasn’t making a promising sound. “Start! START! Start, you silly car! If people see this DeLorean in 1885, then…oh my!” We started cannibalizing parts from the caravan to see if we could turn the engine manually. It turned over and started purring like a kitten. “Success!” cheered Doc Brown. “I knew it would work eventually!” He turned around to go down Main Street. “Thanks!” he called to us. “Now, I’ll head off to the mines! Watch out for Mad Dog Tannen! He has a bit of a reputation if my history of Hill Valley is correct!” He sped off to the mines. As he did, we wandered down the main street, with Momotaros looking bored, if you can call that permanent scowl bored.

“What’s the matter with you?” I asked.

“I’m itching for a fight and no one wants to fight me!” he snarled.

“Not everything needs to end in a brawl,” I replied.

“This coming from a lady who wants to punch her father’s mug,” muttered Richard.

“That’s different,” I hissed. That’s when I noticed the townsfolk shutting their windows and taking cover as a cowboy with a huge mustache came up the street.

“I think that might be the Mad Dog the Doc mentioned,” gulped Wyldstyle.

“It appears to be in human form,” observed Gandalf. “Is it a skin-changer?”

“I think ‘Mad Dog’ is just a name,” explained Wyldstyle. The scanner beeped like crazy at the Cowboy. Batman and I saw it and started puzzling things out. As we did, a man ran out of a saloon. Another person was flung out of the saloon with the flinger stepping out.

“Nobody calls me Mad Dog!” snarled the man. “‘Specially not some duded-up, egg sucking gutter trash!” The poor man was the one we rescued from the manure. Judging by his face, I’d say it was Seamus McFly, the ancestor of the protagonist for Back to The Future, Marty McFly.

“Help! Anybody?!” called Seamus. The strange cowboy then sparked some purple lightning from his hand. That was the cue for Hiro in robber getup and Igura in a saloon girl dress to come out and fire.

“Y’all just move along before one of you gets hurt,” called Hiro in a terrible Texan accent. Mad Dog Tannen started laughing. “Yeah, the accent’s terrible,” muttered Hiro in his usual accent. “Here’s something you might understand.” He then fired on the people at the saloon. Mad Dog and Seamus took off in opposite directions.

“Whoever Hiro and Igura are with, whoever that is,” rasped Batman, “they’re the source of the power signature.”

“Yes,” confirmed Gandalf, “I can feel it.”

“This universe ain’t big enough for two teams!” called the cowboy in a voice that made me freeze.

“Then why don’t you take Hiro and Igura and leave?” I shouted.

“Because we have business here, Megumi,” hissed Hiro.

“Business that I reckon you’re fixing to meddle with!” continued the cowboy.

“Then it looks like we’ve got ourselves a reckoning!” declared Batman. Both sides charged towards each other with Batman leading our side and the cowboy leading the other. Both leaders bent down as if they were about to draw pistols.

“Batman,” muttered Wyldstyle, “you know you don’t have an actual gun, don’t you?”

“Besides, that’s the form I’m responsible for,” muttered Ryutaros.

“Why don’t we all transform?” I suggested.

“Now THAT’S something I like!” cheered Momotaros. The Imagin and Ryōtarō took out belts and strapped them on. The Taros brothers, as Momotaros and his other similarly named friends call themselves, had the same belt design as Ryōtarō. It had a circle in the center with an L-shape at a diagonal facing the arrow on the right side of the buckle and had four colored buttons on the left side, going from red, to blue, to yellow, to purple downwards. Sieg’s belt had a gold wing design on the front. Ryōtarō took out a flip style cell phone and pressed some buttons before attaching it to the circle part of his belt, unfolded. They took out passes and pressed their respective color buttons as we took out our i.d tags and Hongo struck his Henshin pose. Hiro loaded his i.d tag and Igura put her hands on her belt’s wings.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Nova...” announced Igura.

“Henshin!” called all Riders, both good and evil. We all transformed. I heard the Den-O belts say, “Sword Form”, “Rod Form”, “Ax Form”, “Gun Form”, “Wing Form”, and “Liner Form”.

“Kamen Rider Rogue. Stand and deliver!” began Rogue.

“Kamen Rider Talon. You’ve made a poor decision to go against Shocker Nova,” called Talon.

“Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“Kamen Rider Den-O, Sword Form,” proclaimed Momotaros. He had red armor with shoulder pads jutting out and a mask that looked like a peach was split from the top. He then pointed his thumb to himself. He then struck a pose with his legs spread out and his hands spread out. While that went on, he said “Ore…sanjou!” (dynamic way of saying I have arrived!)

“Kamen Rider Den-O, Rod Form,” purred Urataros. He had blue armor with antennae on each side of the head and a blue visor with orange eyeholes and samurai style shoulder pads. “Omae... boku ni tsuraretemiru?” (Loosely translated; Won’t you let me string you along?)

“Kamen Rider Den-O, Ax Form!” boomed Kintaros. His yellow armor was ridged on the front and had an ax head placed in between the triangular visor for the eyes. “Ore no tsuyosa ni, omae ga naita!” (Loosely translated; My strength has made you cry!) He then slammed his foot into the ground like a sumo wrestler and cracked his neck. It made a popping sound that made me wince. “Namida wa kore de fuitoke!” (Loosely translated; Wipe your tears with this!) he said as he tossed a hankie at Hiro’s team.

“Kamen Rider Den-O, Gun Form!” cheered Ryutaros. It looked like a set of speakers was on each shoulder and his mask looked like his usual face. He danced around as he said “Taosu kedo ii yo ne?” (Loosely translated; Mind if I defeat you?) He then leaned back and pointed at the enemy. “Kotae wa kii te nai!” (Loosely translated; Can’t hear your answer!”

“Kamen Rider Den-O, Wing Form,” called Sieg. His armor was white and the eyeholes looked like swan wings. “Kourin, man o jishite.” (Loosely translated; Advent, at the top of everything.)

“Kamen Rider Den-O, Liner Form,” stammered Ryōtarō. “Er…none shall stop me on my journey to the station of your defeat!”

“That was awful!” shouted Sword Form. The cowboy had had enough and drew his staff! It was Lord Vortech! He made a noise with his mouth that sounded like he fired a shot into the sky as a portal opened to drop the Daily Planet building onto the street! The globe on top fell and rolled towards us!

“Watch out!” called Batman as we all ran from the globe. No duh! The globe bowled us over!

“Goodness!” yelped Gandalf. Vortech then made a shotgun reload noise and then said “Boom,” as he opened another portal.

“MOVE!” I warned. We got out of the way as the Kwik-E-Mart from _The Simpsons_ dropped in. Homer poked his head out and looked around. He saw us, screamed, and shut the door, running inside and causing a huge mess.

“This is a rather inconvenient store!” joked Wyldstyle. We all groaned. “Okay, in all seriousness, I see a Keystone transmitter and a chroma lock design on the front of the store. Let’s find the chroma discs.” I found the red one under a wagon from this dimension, Gandalf found the blue one in a dumpster belonging to the store, and with Arch in Batman Steel, both he and Batman yanked down the store’s sign to drop the yellow chroma disc. I noticed something.

“Guys, the chroma design doesn’t have blue!” I yelped. The design had a yellow left L shape, a red circle, and a green right L-shape.

“No problem,” called Wyldstyle. “We just combine blue and yellow.”

“You can mix and match colors?” I asked.

“Sure can!” confirmed Wyldstyle. “Hey, Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, want to use a Chroma lock?”

“This should be fun!” cheered Sword Form

“It sounds intriguing,” purred Rod Form.

“It would be bad not to try it,” said Ax Form.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The design appeared on the ground, surprising the Den-Liner crew. “Let’s see, Chroma! Red! Den-O Sword Form! Chroma! Blue! Den-O Rod Form! Chroma! Yellow! Den-O Ax form!”

“What do you want us to do?” asked Ax Form.

“Jump into the paint blobs,” explained Wyldstyle. “Then Sword Form goes into the circle. Rod Form goes into the right L-shape, and Ax Form first jumps into the left L-shape, then the right!” The three Den-O’s did as they were told and unlocked the Kwik-E-Mart. We ran through the place, startling the poor owner, Apu. We ended up going through the backway with Apu trying to sell us something at an exorbitant price. Not a chance. He still said, “Thank you, come again,” when we left without buying anything. We saw Vortech again.

“And now, for my next trick!” he called. He summoned one of the statues of the Argonath in Middle Earth and a giant aircraft carrier that could fly! It crashed, blocking the path again.

“Oh, the poor _Valiant_!” wailed Battle recognizing the airship. “UNIT of 2015 will be so disappointed!”

“Never mind that!” dismissed Wyldstyle. “I can master build something!” She made a giant cannon and fired on part of the aircraft. She then made a ladder that ran up a building out of the rubble. She climbed up the ladder and found a transmitter. “Up and over, guys! This is just what we need!” said Wyldstyle. We came up. Batman decided to use his Keystone.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Cyan, on the roof of the building across from us! Yellow, on the roof we’re on! Magenta, on the top of the aircraft wreckage! Shift! All allies! Magenta!” We got to the top of the aircraft carrier and jumped over the other side.

“Oh, you’re still here?” mused Vortech. “Very well then!” He summoned the Sphinx, the Statue of Liberty, and a pirate ship to block our path. “As you can see,” said Vortech, “nothing is safe from my reach!” The ship seemed to be familiar to Wyldstyle. She got a look at the name before it caught fire.

“The _Sea Cow_?” she gulped. “That’s MetalBeard’s ship! Oh no, this isn’t good!”

“How are we gonna get past that?!” snapped Sword Form.

“With the Elemental Keystone,” explained Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of water, Ichigō!” Hongo doused the flames, allowing us safe passage over the roadblock. Vortech and his cronies were hiding behind an electric coil. “Element of lightning, Royal!” I zapped the coil with lightning, making it explode in the enemy’s face. They retreated as we climbed the _Sea Cow_ and pursued them.


	21. Chapter 21

“You run out of things to hide behind yet?” asked Batman to Vortech. “Let’s settle this mano a Bat-mano!” Lord Vortech chuckled.

“As you wish!” he said. He raised his staff into the sky and started raising walls from the ground.

“The walls!” gulped Wyldstyle. “They look like the ones in the Gateway room!”

“I’m beginning to suspect,” mused Gandalf, “that the foes we’ve met thus far have been mere pawns.”

“You said it, old man!” confirmed Vortech. “Because I’m not even on the chessboard! I’m the hand controlling every single piece!”

“Hold on, are you Vortech?” asked Batman.

“LORD Vortech, if you please,” answered Vortech as his disguise disappeared. Batman, Wyldstyle, Gandalf, and Ichigō turned to me.

“That’s the enemy?!” yelled Ichigō.

“He wasn’t your concern,” I replied. “He’s the F.N.S’ priority, and ours alone.”

“Considering our homes are in danger because of him,” countered Wyldstyle, “I think keeping that kind of info from us is a grave error!”

“Enough talk!” called Sword Form Den-O. “Let’s do this!”

“Everybody,” shouted Den-O, Liner Form, “pile on!” The Imagin cheered, turned into balls of light, and entered Liner Form. He then took off the cell phone and pressed buttons.

“Momo! Ura! Kin! Ryu! Sieg!” it announced. He put the cell phone back on and swiped the pass over it.

“Climax Form!” called the belt. The face mask changed to Sword Form’s peach-like shape, but the outer shell split away, revealing an orangish-yellow underside. Rod Form’s visor attached itself to the right shoulder. Ax Form’s visor attached to the left shoulder. Gun Form’s visor attached itself to the chest. Wings popped out of the back.

“Ore-tachi…sanjou!” (dynamic way of saying “We have arrived!”) said Den-O in Momotaros’ voice. Rogue started laughing.

“What’s with the wings?!” he managed to get out.

“I wouldn’t laugh so hard,” answered Den-O in Sieg’s voice. It changed to Momotaros’ voice quickly.

“NO ONE ASKED YOU!” he shouted.

“What just happened?” I asked Sengoku.

“The Imagin can possess Ryōtarō to make Den-O’s different forms,” he explained, “or they can all pile on in and make the Climax Form.” Vortech decided to tip the scales in his favor and grew giant size.

“Uh-oh,” gulped Wyldstyle.

“You may have bitten off more than we can chew, Den-O,” observed Gandalf.

“No chance,” assured Batman. “I’m hungry!”

“Your mistake!” proclaimed Rogue. “Turretorg! Discornia! Your master summons you!”

“Shocker Nova! Fall in!” ordered Talon.

“Vortexons, if you please!” called Vortech. The enemy forces came through portals that opened everywhere. We were swarmed, as usual, and fought back.

“Time to use this in a fight,” I decided. I then went through the motions for Proto-Vortex “SUPER CHARGE!” I announced. I then bulked up and grabbed my new sword, charging the ranks of the enemy. After the goons were dispatched, Vortech spoke again.

“See my powers and quake!” He changed shape into a knight’s upper torso, complete with sword and shield. Judging from where the sword was, I’d say he was left-handed. He swung it in a circular motion, intending to bisect us through the waist, but we jumped out of the way. He then made a downward slash at us, nearly hitting Rogue and Talon.

“GIVE US SOME WARNING, WILL YOU?!” roared Rogue. Just then, an explosion in the sky occurred again, heralding the arrival of the DeLorean with a different driver. It was a teenage boy wearing an orange, 80’s down vest over a jean jacket. It was the main protagonist of the Back to The Future trilogy, Marty McFly!

“Whoa!” he called as he saw the battle below. “This is heavy!” The DeLorean collided with Vortech and knocked a Keystone transmitter out!

“You kept a transmitter on you?!” shouted Rogue. “YOU DUNCE!”

“Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” I found a rift crack near Vortech’s left, dodging his sword all the while. “Identify source of rift!” I pulled the crack open and found the source. “Locate help from D-C-C-0-M-1-C-5!” I exclaimed. The rift opened to reveal a plane with a bat motif. I don’t think I need to guess who designed and owned that plane.

“Batplane, fire on the giant!” ordered Batman. The Batplane fired a salvo of missiles at Vortech. He shrunk down.

“Dismiss help,” I called as I readied my sword.

“I see you’ve been practicing your newly found tricks!” roared Vortech. Just then, he formed an ice barrier.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Royal!” I let fire surround my blade and let off a beam of fire melt the ice barrier. Vortech then turned into a giant version of his head while minions attacked us again. Turretorg fired off a salvo of missiles while Discornia dazzled us with her light show. Vortech’s head then spun around, binding us in chains. The DeLorean was still flying around, so it managed to buzz him and shatter Vortech’s concentration. He then turned into a hand, grabbed everyone, and tossed us onto the top of the clock tower’s scaffolding.

“Let’s move things on, shall we?” he asked. Lord, not more puns! After dropping us off, he turned into an eagle and flew around. Rogue took that opportunity to attack me. As we tussled, I managed to score some hits, knocking him silly. Something was off, though. Rogue wasn’t fighting back as hard as he usually does. There was a transmitter there, so I used my keystone to find help.

“Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” The source of the rift was near the edge of the scaffolding. “Identify source of rift!” I got the info on the dimension. “Locate help from N-1-N-J-A-G-0!” I shouted. A mechanical dragon attacked Vortech. They smashed through the scaffolding, making us fall through to the bottom. “Dismiss help!” I called.

“Enough play,” hissed Vortech. “I’m bored of you peasants.” He then formed a fire shield.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” called Gandalf. “Element of water, Ichigō!” Ichigō sprayed water on Vortech’s shield while I fought Talon and Rogue. I managed to get them up against the wall.

“My GOD! That felt incredible!” I sighed.

“Oh HO!” chuckled Rogue. “Am I sensing an iota of pride?”

“It seems to be a curse in your blood, Hiro-Chan,” observed Talon.

“True, I am a prideful man,” agreed Rogue. “It only makes sense that it would pass on.”

“Chan?” I asked, hung up on the honorific Talon used.

“We’re getting married after this mess is over,” explained Rogue.

“That’s not possible!” I declared.

“Considering things, I’d say it is,” argued Rogue.

“Really?” I hissed. “Because, from my vantage point, I see two dolts up against the wall!”

“And don’t think we don’t appreciate the efforts,” assured Rogue. “By a wide margin, you’re packing more of a wallop than when we met in my home dimension of K-A-M-3-N-R-1-D-3-R. However, you will never, EVER, defeat me with that form.”

“What are you talking about?!” I snapped. “I’m much stronger than you now!”

“Oh, yes,” affirmed Talon, “in raw power, you’re unmatched. Even Vortech over there,” she pointed to Vortech as the fire shield was doused and he formed his giant head, “would be given a run for his money. But, your suit is bulky, is it not? As is your weapon. Your suit has increased in mass. Your body can’t compensate, so, while we’re seeing a boost in speed, the trade up is slower combat speed. Hiro-Chan, could you put what I’m saying in simpler terms?”

“Your suit is so heavy,” simplified Rogue, “you can’t hit us.”

“THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL THE SLUGFEST I GAVE YOU?!” I roared, annoyed.

“…Pity,” sighed Rogue. That’s it! No mercy! I swung my sword, the dolts dodged. Rogue then shoved me into a castle, made of Lord Vortech! His castle form had turrets! They were firing!

“Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” I found it on the far side of the clock tower. “Identify source of rift!” I found out where it came from. “Locate help from M-1-D-D-L-3-3-A-R-T-H!” Trolls came out of a rift pushing a giant metal wolf suspended by chains on a scaffolding. I offer this quote from the original books.

“Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs surrounded it, and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it” (Tolkien 124).

I had to finagle the use of Grond with the Orc Captain and the commanding Olog-hai (more advanced Troll that can move in sunlight, like the Uruk-hai), but we reached an agreement that they would still please Sauron if Grond was used against Vortech’s castle form, as Sauron wanted to rule, not be ruled. The trolls positioned the battering ram towards Vortech. They pulled it back as the Orcs chanted “Grond!” over and over. It smashed into Vortech’s castle form, making him fall to the ground. The Orcs cheered, but Vortech was mad!

“Would you STOP using my own tricks against me?!” he snapped. He then tossed Grond and its operators into a portal. He then formed an ice shield.

“Element of fire, Den-O!” called Gandalf, still using his Keystone. Den-O then surrounded his own sword with fire.

“Hissatsu!” (Sure Kill) announced Den-O in Momotaros’ voice. “Ore no hissatsu waza...Cho Fire Climax version!” (My Sure Kill Attack…Super Fire Climax version!) He leaped into the air, made a fire circle, and got ready for his super-powered Rider Kick. The wings kept him ready and poised.

“RIDER KICK!” called Ichigō.

“RIDER PROTO-VORTEX KICK!” I shouted. We all made our kicks with Den-O’s fire attack and destroyed Vortech’s barrier. Vortech stumbled to the ground. He saw something fly off, then got an idea.

“Vortech Kick,” he laughed. He turned into a giant foot and managed to make a flying kick, hitting us all. Our transformations were canceled and the Imagin fell out of Ryōtarō. We all tried to cover our wounds. I won’t lie, we looked pitiful.

“He’s…too strong!” gasped Batman. “We…have to…find…another way!” My Keystone powers were still going.

“Initiate…rift…detection!” I gasped. I waved my hand on the ground in front of me and found a rift crack. Truth be told, I didn’t think that would work. “Identify…source of…rift!” I gasped. The information beamed into my skull. “Locate…help…from…K…A…M…3…N…R…1…D…3…R…” I said weakly. A rift opened and a shinkansen style train that generated its own tracks as it flew through the air came out. It came between us and Vortech’s team.

“The Den-Liner!” called Hiroki. The passenger car opened to let a woman in a train’s waitress uniform with a red streak in her hair be revealed.

“Come on!” she urged. “Quickly!”

“Let’s go!” declared Batman. With great pain, we entered the train. It took off into the air as a rift back to Vorton opened for us. Vortech had beaten us.

* * *

I stood below as the train flew into the rift. Rogue and I had canceled our transformations and laughed with Vortech. “That’s it!” he taunted. “Run along home! It’s a dangerous universe out here!”

“Kamen Riders, my rear!” I laughed, twirling in my new saloon dress. I think I’m gonna keep it. “Look at them run!”

“Leaving us to get a Foundation Element,” declared Hiro as he tilted his hat.

“Quite so,” agreed Vortech as he stopped laughing. “Now, let me see, if I were a Flux Capacitor, then where would I be hiding?” Then, in a fireball that usually heralded the arrival of a time traveling DeLorean, a flying steam engine flew overhead and landed.

“I think I’ll get it,” I volunteered.

“Just be careful,” warned Hiro. “You’re not exactly wearing a bustle.”

“If you happen to have one,” I asked. To my amazement, he did. After he helped me get it on, much to Vortech’s chagrin, no romance in his soul, I’d say, I headed into the main street. Doc Brown, his wife, Clara, his now 45-year-old friend, Marty McFly in cowboy gear, and his now grown, 20-year-old sons, Jules and Verne were on board. When they stepped out of the train’s cab, they saw what Vortech had summoned into Hill Valley.

“Is that Lady Liberty?” asked Clara.

“That’s the Sphinx!” said Jules.

“There’s a pirate ship!” observed Verne.

“Great Scott!” exclaimed Doc Brown.

“Doc, what did you do to the space-time continuum?!” yelped Marty.

“I did nothing!” protested Doc Brown hotly. He then started thinking. “Which isn’t to say that I might not do it at some point after now.”

“Does that mean we’re going…?” asked Marty.

“Back to the future!” confirmed Doc Brown.

“Excuse me,” I called, “could you tell a lady where your Flux Capacitor is?”

“What?!” yelped Doc Brown. “How do you know about the Flux Capacitor?!”

“Maybe she’s from the future,” guessed Marty.

“Oh no!” wailed Doc Brown. “This is terrible! Don’t worry, I’ll get you back!”

“I just need to look at the Flux Capacitor,” I assured. “I have an uncanny ability to look at any machine and make one like it from scratch.”

“Impressive!” praised Jules.

“It’s over in the lamp on top of the locomotive,” explained Doc Brown.

“Thank you!” I called as I pulled a stun gun on them and fired. They fell to the ground. I went to the front of the engine, clambered up, and set to work extracting it.

* * *

The Den-Liner dropped us back off at Vorton. The Owner, a mysterious man that has a habit of eating meals with a tiny flag in it and trying to keep it upright for as long as he can and stops eating when it falls, making a show of surprise, gave us a bag of studs for our trouble. He also gave me the Marty and Doc i.d tags. They copied over to all Vortex Riders. We left while Ryōtarō, the Imagin, and Hana, stayed on the train. It soon left through a rift back home. “The total number of studs in the bag is 105,000,” reported Vortoranii from my belt when the Den-Liner left. “We now have 830,000 studs.”

“Yeah,” sighed Wyldstyle. “I think running away was the right idea.”

“That wasn’t running away!” protested Batman. “That was a…tactical retreat!”

“Remind me,” countered Wyldstyle as Gandalf decided to examine the apparatus on the gateway, “what’s the difference?”

“There’s none,” affirmed the Brigadier as he and Rusty came up, having heard our arrival.

“Batman doesn’t run away!” protested Batman.

“Seriously?” I asked. “That’s the best defense for your fragile ego?”

“That’s not a difference,” observed Wyldstyle.

“Well, if you can’t see the difference,” hissed Batman, “then, maybe, that’s your failing!”

“You want to talk failing?” asked Wyldstyle. “Megumi’s a shining example!”

“Excuse me?!” I snarled.

“You didn’t tell us about Vortech!” explained Wyldstyle.

“She’s right,” agreed Batman. “You dragged us along for the ride! You knew about Vortech and how you got your belts! Why did you withhold that kind of information?!”

“You’re the last person to accuse me of withholding information!” I roared. “You’ve kept your countermeasures for the Justice League from your friends!”

“They’re gods among men!” protested Batman. “We need countermeasures!”

“You don’t need any for Vortech!” I argued. “This was supposed to be the F.N.S’ fight, not yours! Hongo decided to tag along and start us on this rift hopping insanity!”

“Ichimonji was kidnapped right before my eyes, in case you forgot!” shouted Hongo. “I’m not going to sit and wait while someone inexperienced in Kamen Rider matters goes off to rescue him!”

“Well, if you can’t just be patient in terms of rescue,” I hissed, “maybe that’s your failing!”

“Says the one that used the Super Charge so recklessly after Hongo said not to!” called Emily.

“Oh, don’t you start!” I growled.

“In case you didn’t notice,” Emily pointed out, “your new form is as bulky as me! I’m used to my body weight because I trained myself, which is why I move as fluidly as I do! You don’t have any training of that kind!”

“I beat Hiro with it once before, remember?!” I argued.

“That was in a dream world,” countered Emily, “where anything is possible! You caught him off guard, and he prepared himself for the next encounter! He toyed with you back in Hill Valley!” The argument was cut short as we heard machinery falling on itself. We whirled to see Gandalf holding the claws that usually rested at either side of the gateway ring and the apparatus with the antenna was on the main platform!

“Oh dear,” gulped Gandalf.

“Gandalf,” hissed Batman, “did you just break our only way out of here?!”

“Ah, well,” stammered Gandalf.

“No!” reported Rusty. “Gateway is still fully operational!”

“Then what are those parts for?” asked Batman.

“My Master Builder senses are tingling!” called Wyldstyle. She then took the parts, attached the claws to the apparatus, moved the antenna to a side, and put the purple disc on the top. It flashed and formed and glowed until it became a flying cube-like robot with two digited claw hands. It was the one that found Foundation Prime for Vortech and Hiro!

“Whew, thanks!” praised the robot. Then it hit me! He was the Gateway Guardian! He just deepened his voice when he was attached to the gateway. “Kind of hard to assemble yourself when your arms aren’t attached in the first place,” said the robot.

“The flying box appears to be speaking,” observed Gandalf. “How…odd.”

“This from a guy who hangs out with talking trees!” countered the robot. “I was worried that you guys hadn’t seen my S.O.S. signal.”

“You mean the video of you finding that place for Vortech?” I asked.

“That’s the one,” confirmed the robot. “I was supposed to be like the Vortex Drivers, but I didn’t want to be cramped in a belt. Kind of hard to do anything as a belt except transform your host. Dull, honestly. Although, it seems a former organic wanted to try for herself, right Vortoranii?”

“You haven’t changed a bit, old friend!” chuckled Vortoranii.

“My name’s X-PO,” introduced the robot. “Short for Experimental Portal Operator, and I’m the voice that’s been helping you find the Keystones.” Hypothesis confirmed. X-PO hovered towards Batman. “That’s different than the voice that tells you to dress up like a bat.” Batman snarled at this.

“So, you were the one that spied on Vortech,” I guessed. “He must have figured you out, hence, banishing you.”

“Yep,” confirmed X-PO.

“Our thanks for guiding us,” lauded Gandalf.

“You and your beard are welcome,” replied X-PO. “So, here’s the deal: now that the Keystones have been integrated into the Gateway device, you must gather the Foundation Elements immediately. It’s a ‘gotta-collect-them-all’ kind of thing.”

“Cut to the chase, casual robot,” snapped Batman. “Where’s Robin and the Kryptonite?”

“Right, Kryptonite,” recalled X-PO. “That’s one of the Foundation Elements identified on Foundation Prime. I believe I gave you a bit of explanation on them.”

“You only stated what some Foundation Elements are,” I reminded, “and who’s got them.”

“So, Lord Vortech really DOES have his grubby, Vortechy mitts on them,” hissed X-PO.

“The guy from the wild west, right?” asked Wyldstyle.

“Does he have our friends too?” quizzed Hongo.

“Well, if they possess Foundation Elements,” guessed X-PO, “and, judging by the kinds of friends you have, I bet they do, then, yes, they’re on Foundation Prime.”

“Then stop talking and open a rift there!” demanded Batman, wanting to rescue his son quickly.

“You’ve been there before,” I observed. “Get the F.N.S there and we’ll deal with Vortech and the hostage situation. These people need to get home.”

“No, we need to get to Foundation Prime!” protested Batman.

“This isn’t your fight!” I argued.

“Oh, yes it is,” countered X-PO. “You think those rifts leading you guys to their native dimensions was coincidence?”

“Wait, you wanted Hongo to follow us through the rift?!” I yelped.

“And Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf,” confirmed X-PO. “Batman has his intelligence and gadgets, Gandalf has his magic and wisdom, Wyldstyle has her combat prowess and imaginative brain, and Hongo has his cybernetic powers. These have proven valuable to you guys. Overall, they should be thanked.” I then realized what was going on. X-PO selected the people that could help us on our journey while the Vortex Drivers found hosts that could utilize their powers. Dear Lord, I made a mistake.

“Minna,” I mumbled, “I want to apologize.”

“For?” asked Hongo.

“For not telling you sooner about what we know about Vortech!” I said, tearing up a bit. I felt so ashamed. “I should have trusted you sooner!” I broke down crying. Richard, Emmanuel, Lukas, Hiroki, and Emily gave me a hug.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have been so harsh,” Batman muttered to Hongo, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle. They raised an eyebrow. “I let my goal of rescuing Robin get in the way of my judgement. I thought Megumi didn’t care about us. Boy, was I wrong. She made the same mistake I’ve made of holding back info to protect your friends.”

“I’m not really innocent in that regard,” replied Hongo.

“We’ve all done it in the past,” observed Wyldstyle.

“True,” confirmed Gandalf. “I kept some things from the Fellowship and it led to us facing the Balrog in Moria.” I had spent my tears at that time.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say we all are,” assured Batman. “No more secrets?”

“No more secrets,” I promised. “Another reason I didn’t tell you everything was that I was thinking more about how to save Hiroki’s and my mom.”

“We all let our loved ones blind us to the team we have,” observed Emmanuel. “Let’s use that light to instead find the path forward instead of in our eyes.”

“Agreed,” I cheered. “All right, X-PO, get us to Foundation Prime!”

“Wish I could,” sighed X-PO.

“I’m sorry?” I hissed. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

“Here’s the catch,” explained X-PO, “Foundation Prime’s location was wiped from my memory, along with all my important phone numbers and gluten-free recipes. It’s a real pain.” He eats? “But,” he continued, “with enough Foundation Elements, I may be able to recalculate the location for Foundation Prime. Also, as an added bonus, getting all of the Foundation Elements will stop Lord Vortech’s plan to collapse all the dimensions into one.”

“I trust one of you knows what that last bit meant?” quizzed Gandalf, the whole thing going over his head.

“I think so,” muttered Wyldstyle. “Collapsing all the dimensions is bad news, right?

“Oh, yeah,” confirmed X-PO. “REAL bad. To put it in a way that each of you would understand, it’s like if Sauron ruled all of Middle-Earth, or your entire world got glued together, or Shocker successfully turned everyone into cyborg slaves, or everybody in Gotham found out you’re actually Bruce Wayne.” Batman squirmed at this. “So, obviously, you have to collect all of these Foundation Elements.”

“But, we only know of a few of them,” countered Gandalf. “What are the rest and what purpose do they serve?”

“They’re important, unique objects,” answered X-PO, “found only in specific dimensions.”

“From what the Vortex Drivers recorded from you,” I recalled, “the Foundation Elements are the cornerstones of all of reality, keeping the fabric of the multiverse stable. Hence, Foundation Elements.”

“Like MetalBeard’s treasure?” asked Wyldstyle.

“Yes,” confirmed X-PO. “Lord Vortech desires them with all of his heart. When it comes to ruling the entire multiverse, the guy can be a bit of a hoarder.”

“All right, we’re in!” declared Batman.

“What are we looking for?” asked Wyldstyle.

“Look, I can only be so helpful,” replied X-PO, “but I CAN get you started. For there is one Element that’s known to all artificial intelligences, such as myself. The knowledge is buried deep in our kernel. Some consider it a myth, but I am now certain of its existence.”

“And?” I asked. “What is it?”

“A cake!” answered X-PO.

“…A cake?” I asked incredulously.

“A cake!” repeated X-PO. “A delicious, moist cake!” He then made an evil laugh, stopping himself soon after. “Whoa, that was weird! Alright, let’s get a rift open for you!”

“Not just yet!” I called. “As some people have pointed out, some of us have new forms that are currently cumbersome. I don’t wanna be caught with my dress down again. We need to train, and we need to do so quickly.” X-PO considered this.

“Well then,” he mused, “if we’re going to gather Foundation Elements with bulkier super forms, we’ll have to get you used to them in very little time, starting tomorrow!”

“How will we do that?” asked Irina.

“I think I know just what we need!” declared X-PO.

* * *

After Igura changed into her usual outfit, she joined us as I laughed with the rest of our allies. “You should have seen how Igura-Chan got the Flux Capacitor!” I boasted. “She was brilliant!”

“Just a few more Foundation Elements,” laughed Sauron, “and we can rule like royalty!” We all sighed as we dreamed of power.

“A single universe under our command,” muttered Ambassador Hell happily.

“Talking of your rewards?” asked Vortech as he approached.

“Indeed,” confirmed Saruman. “And of what we’ll bring to the single universe.”

“You know what would spruce things up in that universe?” asked Sauron. “Some Mordor landscaping, like Mount Doom.”

“How about the industry of Isengard?” quizzed Saruman.

“True, we can’t do anything without industry,” I agreed.

“And workers to get said industry going,” supplied Ambassador Hell.

“And, of course,” interjected the Joker, “we should consider a holiday of anarchy and chaos.”

“And some form of police when there are people breaking the law when such a holiday isn’t in effect,” observed Lex Luthor.

“Would a full week of chaos and a full week of order alternating do?” asked Igura. Both Lex and the Joker grinned. “I thought so.”

“And the reward starting money for that universe!” I cheered. “Fifty million studs each!”

“Fifty million?” asked Two-Face. He turned to Vortech. “You said our starting money was twenty million!”

“And Hiro said that as well,” replied Vortech hurriedly.

“I heard him say FIFTY million!” growled Sauron.

“I thought YOU said you didn’t care about studs!” I protested.

“I don’t!” hissed Sauron as he gripped his mace. “I just don’t like to be cheated!”

“Now, everybody, calm down!” yelped Igura as she tried to keep the peace while our allies advanced on us.

“Calm down?” snapped the Joker. “Are you three trying to make your cheating us of our full share into a joke?! Because I don’t find it funny!”

“We’re not cheating anybody!” assured Vortech.

“Then where are the other thirty million studs?!” asked Sauron.

“There ARE no other thirty million studs!” called Igura. She turned to me. “Are there?”

“Er, no!” I lied. “Not really!” A Shocker Combatman made his usual noises.

“I AGREE!” roared Sauron. “THEY’RE LYING! THEY’RE IN THIS TOGETHER!”

“YOU’RE NOT GONNA GET AWAY WITH THIS, VORTECH!” shouted the Joker, no longer smiling.

“I COME HERE, RISK MY MEN’S LIVES,” yelled Ambassador Hell, “AND FOR WHAT?!” He cracked his red whip with the intent of beating Igura savagely. “YOU HAD THIS COMING FOR A LONG TIME, TRAITOR!”

“TRY IT!” taunted Igura. “NOVA...HENSHIN!” She transformed into Kamen Rider Talon and tackled Ambassador Hell. He shoved her off of him after she scored some punches to his face. He got up and then changed into his monster form. He was a bipedal rattlesnake monster with a snake head, a whip right arm, a five digited claw hand, and scales all over his body. This form was called Garagaranda. He swung his whip arm at Igura, who dodged.

“I’ll get him!” I declared as I loaded my i.d tag into my guns. “Henshin!” As I ran through the circle, the Joker tackled me. Vortech tried to get away, but Sauron hit him with his mace. It became a brawl between the two. Eventually, after a few clashes with their weapons, Vortech ducked a side swing from Sauron. The person it hit was in armor, right behind Vortech. The person stumbled backwards, making the fighting stop. I felt the blood drain from my face. It was War of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Vortech said to avoid them at all costs, since they were training one of two Kamen Riders that could beat him!

“Well,” grunted War, “since you’re hellbent on fighting, I see no reason to even give you a chance of backing out now while you can. I’ll see you on the battlefield.” She mounted her horse and charged off. Nobody moved. We were still as statues for a while. We then turned slowly to Sauron who, for once, had a stance that betrayed his fear.

“You idiot!” screeched Talon.


	22. Chapter 22

Vortoranii had told us to head down to the lower levels for the battle arena. When we arrived, there were some really bulky suits that were easily three times that of my Super Charge form. There were swords five times the size of my Super Charge form’s blade. X-PO hovered there with a device that had a slot for my belt to fit in. “If you could put me on the projector,” said Vortoranii. I was puzzled, then figured out that the device was the projector she was talking about. I put the belt into the projector and figured out why it was called a projector. It moved to a spot that would have been a belt on a person. It soon made a holographic woman that made it look like she was made of space and stars, like Vortech. I guess she and Vortech were the same species. She wore heavy armor, but, being a hologram, she moved easily. “So,” mused Vortoranii, “you want to learn about the Super Charge form?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well,” chuckled Vortoranii, “to do so, you’ll need to get used to suits heavier than your own. We’ll be getting you through a rough training regimen, the first test being how high you can climb that cliff.” She pointed to a stiff cliff that, while not high enough to kill someone, would hurt someone if they fell. “You’ll need the suit to reach the top,” instructed Vortoranii. We changed into our suits and immediately felt their weight. We slowly moved to the cliff face. I started climbing but fell after going up twice my height. Some came up shorter and some got up higher, but we never even reached the first marker. “Hoo, boy,” sighed Vortoranii, “we’ve got a long way to go. X-PO! Queue up a montage song!”

“I’ve got the perfect one!” cheered X-PO. The Disney nerds, Haitao, Richard, and Emily, brightened when they heard the familiar drumbeat. We were given a sword and struggled to get it up.

“Man up, ladies and gentlemen!” barked Vortoranii.

_Let’s get down to business,_

_To defeat the Huns!_

We managed to get our swords up and signaled we were ready.

_Did they send me daughters,_

_When I asked for sons?_

We tried swinging our swords but ended up knocking each other out.

_You’re the saddest bunch,_

_I’ve ever met!_

Vortoranii shook her head.

_But, you can bet, before we’re through,_

_Mister, I’ll!_

_Make a man!_

_Out of you!_

* * *

We got ready for target practice. Vortoranii let loose a dozen or so spheres and fired on one with a spare blade. We all tried, X-PO stuck a sphere on mine, making Vortoranii scowl at me. I grinned sheepishly.

_Tranquil as a forest,_

_But on fire within!_

* * *

We had to dodge several projectiles while balancing a bucket of water on our heads. We all were too clumsy and several of us let the water bucket fall on us.

_Once you find your center,_

_You are sure to win!_

* * *

We got into a sparring match with each other. Hongo over-powered me easily but got knocked down in one punch by Vortoranii’s hologram.

_You’re a spineless, pale,_

_Pathetic lot!_

_And you haven’t got a clue!_

* * *

We started fishing with our hands, like in _Mulan_. Like the title protagonist of that movie, I ended up grabbing Xiomara’s leg and pulling her under the water. She looked mad!

_Somehow I’ll!_

_Make a man!_

_Out of you!_

* * *

We started running around a racetrack but fell down before we finished the 1st lap! A fire arrow then stabbed Batman and Wyldstyle’s butts.

_I’m never gonna catch my breath!_

_Say goodbye to those who knew me!_

* * *

Hongo, Emily, Gandalf, Lukas, and Xiomara tried to break a board with their heads and ended up rubbing their bruised foreheads.

_Boy, was I a fool in school,_

_For cutting gym!_

* * *

A bunch of wooden dummies were being operated behind walls and battering us. One of them hit me in my lower region. Did you guys know that the pain down there is worse for a lady than it is a man?

_This guy’s got them scared to death!_

_Hope he doesn’t see right through me!_

* * *

We had to cross a raging river with a rickety bridge. It was slow going.

_Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!_

* * *

We had to run an obstacle course that went through a river, many of us getting swept downstream, through a tunnel that buffeted us with strong wind and rain, many of us getting tossed around, across a fire path with raging flames, many of us nearly passing out from the heat, and going through a forest without being caught by Elphaba, Rusty, the Brigadier, or X-PO, we all got caught before we reached the finish line.

_(Be a man!)_

_You must be swift as the coursing river!_

_(Be a man!)_

_With all the force of great typhoon!_

_(Be a man!)_

_With all the strength of a raging fire!_

_Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!_

* * *

We then had to run carrying five training swords but collapsed.

_Time is racing toward us_

_‘Til the Huns arrive!_

X-PO picked them all up and flew off with little to no effort.

_Heed my every order,_

_And you might survive!_

* * *

Vortoranii showed how disappointed she was in our progress.

_You’re unsuited for,_

_The rage of war,_

_So, pack up! Go home! You’re through!_

She left us to ourselves so we could observe the cliff face.

_How could I,_

_Make a man,_

_Out of you?_

At that point, a surge of grit and determination filled my chest. I then went to climb the cliff face. I started off at a pretty decent pace and kept steady.

_(Be a man!)_

_You must be swift as the coursing river!_

_(Be a man!)_

_With all the force of a great typhoon!_

_(Be a man!)_

_With all the strength of a raging fire!_

_Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!_

I threw my i.d tag to the ground at Rusty’s skirt. Everyone cheered, making Vortoranii reconsider her stance on sending us home.

* * *

_(Be a man!)_

_We must be swift as the coursing river!_

As we ran across the obstacle course’s raging waters later on in training, we reflected on how we all dodged the projectiles with the water buckets on our heads with nary a drop spilled and how we dodged all the wooden dummies without a scratch.

_(Be a man!)_

_With all the force of a great typhoon!_

We ran through the wind tunnel and reflected on how we ran 99 laps before tiring out and letting projectiles hit us and broke 20 boards with our heads.

_(Be a man!)_

_With all the strength of a raging fire!_

Running through the flames, we reflected on how we crossed the rickety bridge quickly, ran with 20 training swords with no effort, and excelled in target practice.

_Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!_

As we weaved through the forest and reached the finish line without Rusty, X-PO, Elphaba, and the Brigadier finding us, we thought back on the fish we caught and cooked and beating Vortoranii’s hologram in a sparring match. We crossed the finish line! Our official training was over! “That was intense!” I panted.

“Thank goodness you trained with Hyperbolic Time functions in the room,” mused X-PO.

“Like the Time Chamber in _Dragonball Z_?” I asked.

“The same,” confirmed Vortoranii. “It may feel like two years passed by, but it’s only been 20 minutes out there.”

“Do you think Vortech and his cronies are doing the same?” asked Emmanuel.

“Well, since Apocalypse is being trained, most likely,” guessed X-PO.

“One can only imagine what kind of horrors are being concocted on Foundation Prime,” I muttered.

* * *

We were all stunned. Hiro was pacing, his fiancé, Igura, was leaning against the wall, thinking, the others were in a similar state of worry, and I sat on my throne, thinking. Perhaps I should have let Sauron hit me with his mace. War is the last person I want to fight, but perhaps, we can use this to our advantage. “What are we going to do?” asked Ambassador Hell. “We can’t exactly defeat someone who’s immortal.”

“Let’s face facts,” figured Lex Luthor. “We’re doomed.”

“Would you stop saying that?” I hissed.

“My helicopter works like a clown car,” offered the Joker. “We can use it to escape.”

“Not a chance,” remarked Hiro. “There’s too much at stake.”

“Maybe if we surrender, she won’t hurt us,” gulped Saruman, holding no illusions over War’s power.

“She’s not going to accept it,” I argued, knowing a little more about her.

“It’s a rather big dimension here,” observed Two-Face. “There are plenty of places to hide.”

“No one’s hiding,” snapped Igura, “no one’s escaping, and no one’s surrendering! What’s wrong with you people? Don’t you remember what Hiro did in N-1-N-J-A-G-0?”

“Where he fought Death and War?” I asked.

“And won!” reminded Igura.

“As I recall,” growled Sauron, “they were caught off guard!”

“The point is,” countered Hiro, “I could beat them! If they’ve adapted to my current strength, we need to train so we could ALL overpower them!”

“And there is a way to do so,” I remembered.

“Beating the Four Horsemen?” asked the Joker. He got his grin back. “We’d have to be crazy! Let’s do it for our shared universe! Let’s do it for crazies everywhere!”

“Let’s do it for a full fifty million stud reward!” hissed Saruman.

“It always comes down to profit with you people,” I muttered. “But, I feel generous. Fifty million each as I told Hiro!” My pawns cheered. “Now, we have training to do!” I made a training facility and we all proceeded to make our way inside. I WILL get the Foundation Elements one way or another!

* * *

I could not believe how lax the dress code was here at After Academy. Yes, we had uniforms. Yes, girls had skirts and guys had pants, but they were only required for events. Any other day, you could go in civvies if you choose. You could go to certain classes in pj’s! Not that most of us do, anyway. I kept to the uniform today in the colors of my house, black and white with a hint of blue in the petticoats and a blue ascot. I was heading to a private class with Famine, carrying my gym clothes with me in my backpack. I arrived at the classroom. Famine was already there with a grin on her face. “Reminiscing about something, Famine?” I asked. There wasn’t a need to call them by titles, only names. War insisted on it.

“No, just remembered what War told me,” answered Famine as I changed. She told me about how Vortech’s forces had declared, well, war, on us by attacking War. Their mistake. “Ready to learn more about my powers, Ms. Lacey?” asked Famine.

“Let’s do it!” I cheered I have to tell you, I never so much as grinned back in my universe. This turned my life around for the better. I pulled out a belt that had a circle with four symbols relating to the Horsemen, the main teachers and administrators here, and put it on. “Henshin!” I announced as I spun the circle. My rider armor appeared in a cloud of darkness. It was a mix of the Four Horsemen’s armor, with Famine’s head, War’s left leg, Pestilence’s right leg, and Death’s chest and arms. A little added bonus was a hat on top. I got into a defensive stance. Famine then pulled out her belt with an open mouth and an upright bone in the mouth.

“Henshin!” she called. She turned the bone and the mouth chomped down on it.

“Famine!” announced the belt. Her armor appeared with the motif of someone gaunt and starving. She then went on the offensive with a bestial leap. I managed to get out of the way with a side roll.

“Good start,” praised Famine, “but you’re off balance!” She leapt at me from the desk, but I leapt to the light fixture. I then turned my buckle to Famine’s symbol.

“Famine Mouth!” called my belt. A jagged set of jaws appeared and I leapt at Famine, biting into her. She howled in pain and flung me off. I spun the buckle to War’s symbol. “War Crusher!” called my belt. My legs bulked up as I leapt into the air and delivered a flying kick, knocking Famine out of her transformation. I then cancelled my own.

“I thought you said you weren’t gonna hold back?” I hissed.

“I wasn’t,” answered Famine. “Turns out you were too quick for me. Congratulations, you’ve passed my final exam!”

“That’s two out of four,” I replied. “Now, I have to learn Pestilence and Death’s powers.”

“And you’ll do so easily,” lauded Famine, smiling. “I have faith in you. Now then, I believe it’s about time for War’s gym class.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “See you later!” I sped off to the gym, ready for another afternoon here at After Academy.


	23. Chapter 23

After we rested from our training session, we assembled in the Gateway room. “Are we ready?!” I called, eager to try out my new strength. Everyone had confirmed. “CHARGE!” I shouted. We all ran for the Gateway, but nothing happened. The portal didn’t appear in the Gateway ring! I reared my horse back, warning everyone to stop, too little, too late. We all crashed into each other.

“Your Highness,” began Richard, “I mean no disrespect, but, WHAT IN ALL THE LEVELS IN ALL NINE CIRCLES OF DANTE ALIGHIERI’S _INFERNO_ , HIS DESCRIPTION OF HELL ITSELF, WAS THAT ABOUT?!”

“If one of you older guys have their hand on my butt…!” hissed Emily.

“Apologies, my friend,” called Emmanuel, “that’s me. Trying to disentangle myself.”

“The portal never opened,” I said, answering Richard’s question. “We would have crashed into the Gateway.”

“What?” yelped Vortoranii. “X-PO, I thought you said you found a workaround for the passenger limit.”

“Passenger limit?” I asked.

“There was a limit on the Gateway once,” explained Vortoranii. “Only seven people could go into a dimension at once. I thought X-PO removed that for this crisis.”

“I…I’m sure I did!” spluttered X-PO. He zoomed over to the main computer under the connection between Gateway generator and platform. He keyed in some commands and then saw the problem. “Oh, I see,” he said.

“Did it malfunction?” I asked.

“No, more like I changed the code when I was disconnected,” answered X-PO. “When I was connected, I had made a workaround for the seven-traveler limit, hence why I could get you all to a dimension. When I was reassembled, I took the code for that workaround with me. It’s no longer in the Gateway. I can only send seven people to your destination.”

“How long would it take to remove that limit?” asked Lukas.

“Even with you, Batman, Rusty, Sheela, Irina, the Brigadier, and myself,” replied X-PO, “too long.”

“We don’t have the time to fix it,” I resolved. “We’ll have to pick seven. The first five are obvious, those who carry the Keystones. All that’s left are two more.”

“I’m coming with!” called Richard.

“Yeah right!” hissed Emily. “I’m coming with!”

“Non!” protested Emmanuel. “It’s me!”

“Nein! Me!” shouted Lukas.

“Why should you go?!” snarled Sheela. “I barely did anything when getting the Keystones!”

“A tough decision,” mused X-PO, “requires a tough method of choosing. Keystone bearers, please get on the Gateway Pad.” I got on the circle part while Wyldstyle and Gandalf flanked my left and Batman and Hongo flanked my right. “If the rest of the Riders could get in a circle,” called X-PO. They managed to get into a circle. A circular trapdoor opened, revealing a screen with two rotating arrows. “This is the Roulette Reader,” explained X-PO. “It takes the coordinates of the destination and reads who is most qualified to help you through the dimension.” Game show lights then flashed everywhere. “It’s time for a bit of Rider Chance!” Holographic showgirls then appeared and started dancing, the Gateway Pad flashed, the arrows spun and stopped at different people, and X-PO started dancing in the air. Catchy, upbeat music was playing, but it didn’t calm our nerves.

“Guys,” whimpered Emily, “this whole thing’s doing me a frighten!”

“Don’t chicken out now!” called Richard. “I’m scared too!”

“And the ones going to this dimension shall be…” began X-PO. A drum roll sounded as the arrows spun in circles, one going clockwise, the other counterclockwise. One landed on “Emily!” announced X-PO. Emily jumped a few times, clapping her hands and giggling like a child. The other arrow stopped on “and Tanisha!” finished X-PO.

“All right!” cheered Tanisha. She and Emily joined us on the Gateway Pad.

“Now, are we ready?” I asked. My team confirmed. “CHARGE!” I called. This time, the Gateway opened a portal and we jumped in.

* * *

We arrived at a room that was white and metal. We looked around. “This doesn’t look like a bakery,” observed Batman, remembering the Foundation Element we had to get for X-PO.

“We went to the past,” recalled Wyldstyle. “Maybe this is a futuristic space-bakery?”

“Something about this dimension seems familiar,” mused Emily.

“Déjà vu?” asked Tanisha.

“Is that you?” quizzed a computerized, monotone, woman’s voice. Emily and Tanisha tensed up.

“Not her!” gulped Tanisha.

“How did you escape from your…?” began the voice before it stopped. “…No. You’re not her. You’re just another unwelcome visitor.”

“Uh, good lady?” asked Gandalf as he took off his hat and tried to locate the source of the voice. “Are you the proprietor of this establishment? We wish to buy a cake.”

“Cake?” replied the voice. “Why do they always want the cake?”

“Emily, let’s get it out of our system now,” muttered Tanisha.

“Good idea,” agreed Emily. They turned to face us.

“The cake is a lie!” they yelled together. The reference went over our heads as we gave confused looks.

“So, you actually have a cake?” asked Batman to the voice.

“We can pay!” continued Gandalf as he took out a coin.

“Yes,” replied the voice. “Yes, you WILL pay. But first, a test.” A circular sliding door opened behind us. We went through and entered the next room labelled Test Chamber 01. “Welcome to the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center,” welcomed the voice.

“What’s this?” asked Wyldstyle. “Lord Business’ R&D Department?”

“No,” replied Tanisha, “the lair of the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, GLaDOS, for short. We’re in the world of _Portal_.”

“GLaDOS will throw everything at us to make us fall slowly into madness and death,” continued Emily. “Without the portal gun, she may get that.”

“You say that in front of those that control Keystones,” I answered. I then noticed an orange portal on an upper ledge above some dirty looking liquid. I noticed a Keystone transmitter in front of the portal. Behind the transmitter, in the portal, was Batman looking down. I turned and saw Batman beside me. He was looking at a blue portal that showed us down below. I then got an idea. “Hongo-san,” I directed, “see if you can get the transmitter down to our level.”

“Got it,” confirmed Hongo. He jumped up and kicked the transmitter through the orange portal and came out through the blue portal.

“That’s not how you use that,” called GLaDOS. She shut off the portals.

“We don’t need those portals,” replied Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Yellow, on the overhanging panel! Magenta, in the observation room! Cyan, near the transmitter!” The portals appeared in their assigned places. “Shift! Emily! Magenta!” Emily jumped into the portal.

“Unauthorized portal detected,” observed GLaDOS. “Until the source can be identified, please press the Aperture Science Switch ahead of you.”

“I thought these kinds of rooms were beyond your notice,” mused Emily as she pressed a button on a cylinder in front of her. “Besides, shouldn’t you have received a shock for giving me the answer? Or even a hint?”

“I suppose I turned off those circuits,” replied GLaDOS. “My bad.”

“Passive aggressive to the end,” observed Tanisha.

“I’M passive aggressive?” asked GLaDOS.

“As for us,” I continued, “we’re just full blown aggressive.”

“That makes no sense,” stammered GLaDOS. “Why would you say you’re aggressive? Logic error detected. Please proceed into the Chamberlock after completing each test.”

“Shift! Emily! Yellow!” announced Batman. Emily ended up on another platform with another button.

“Logic error detected,” called GLaDOS. “Subject should not have been able to enter that part of the testing chamber without the aid of an Aperture Science Handheld Portal device.” A cube dropped into a closed chamber. “Please attempt to place the Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube on the fifteen-hundred Megawatt Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button.”

“Batman, could you send Gandalf up here?” asked Emily.

“Shift! Yellow! Gandalf!” announced Batman. Gandalf appeared next to Emily and used his magic to put the cube onto the button.

“Logic error detected,” droned GLaDOS. “Subject should not have been able to move the Weighted Storage Cube in this way.”

“It’s magic,” I replied, “we don’t need to explain it.” We entered the adjacent room and found the elevator. We soon arrived at Test Chamber 02.

“You’re doing very well,” said GLaDOS. “That is to say, I suspect you were cheating on that last test. Cheating is wrong and, ultimately, the only person who loses when you cheat is yourself. For instance, like the other human, you might lose your freedom, or your mind, or some teeth. I will be monitoring your behavior more closely in the future. Now, on with the next test.”

“Other human?” I quizzed. “What are you talking about?!”

“Did I say ‘human?’” asked GLaDOS. “I meant sentry turret.”

“That is a bald-faced lie, you 8-megabyte twit!” insulted Emily.

“…Not dignifying that,” answered GLaDOS. “Proceed with the test and try not to cheat.”

“Guys!” called Wyldstyle. “I see a red chroma disc in that tube up there!”

“We need to open it,” I declared, “and find the other discs.”

“Emily,” requested Batman. “Mind going into Batman Steel? I see a grapple hook over on the wall.”

“Got it!” called Emily as she drew out her i.d tag. “Henshin!” After changing, she swapped the i.d tag for Batman’s.

“Batman Steel!” announced her belt. She then pulled out the grapple gun and fired it. Batman did the same with his and they yanked the wall off. Inside was a man in traveler’s clothes. He was Japanese and looked half crazed from being in isolation.

“Get him out of there!” I yelled. We got him out and looked him over. Physically, he was all right, but his mental state was in question. He finally opened up from his fetal position and looked at us.

“Is this a dream?” he asked, shakily.

“No, sir,” I assured him in a relaxing tone. “I am Hishikawa Megumi.” I heard Touché cancel her transformation. “These are Emily Saunders and Batman, the ones who rescued you.”

“Hello!” called Emily as she bowed to him, the proper way to greet someone in Japan instead of a handshake.

“Nice to meet you,” rasped Batman as he bowed.

“This is Tanisha Akintola,” I introduced.

“Hello,” greeted Tanisha as she bowed.

“That’s Wyldstyle,” I continued.

“How’s it going?” asked Wyldstyle as she grinned.

“That’s Gandalf the Grey,” I went on.

“Good day,” greeted Gandalf.

“And that’s Takeshi Hongo,” I finished.

“Good to meet you out of your suit, OOO,” (pronounced O’s) said Hongo as he bowed.

“You know me?” asked the man.

“I know of your rider name,” replied Hongo. “I’m the first Kamen Rider.” The man’s face brightened.

“Now I remember you!” he cheered. “I don’t think we’ve properly introduced ourselves when the Showa and Heisei riders had their feud. I’m Hino Eiji.” He got up and bowed.

“Rider name?” I asked, echoing Hongo’s words. “You’re a Kamen Rider as well?”

“Kamen Rider OOO,” confirmed Eiji as he drew out a black slate with blue lines running all over it and three slots with windows on the front. “This is the OOO driver, the belt I use to transform with.”

“Please, go ahead and bore me to death while talking to the previous cheater,” called GLaDOS.

“You shut up,” snarled Tanisha, “or we’ll go into your major databanks with an electromagnetic axe, you circuit crossed dolt!”

“Sticks and stones may break my metaphorical bones,” replied GLaDOS, “but your words are just annoyances I can ignore.”

“Minna,” called Eiji, “there’s a button that connects somewhere in here.”

“Judging by the blue line that indicates connections to a part of the puzzle,” observed Tanisha, “I’d say that it operates the tube the chroma disc is in.”

“Then let’s press it and find the others,” I declared. I did the honors and freed the chroma disc. Now, two more discs left. A panel wobbled beneath Tanisha’s feet. We pulled it out and found the blue chroma disc. Wyldstyle used her scanner to find a control panel hidden in the wall. She pressed some buttons and released the yellow chroma disc from its prison. “Now,” I muttered, “we need to find a transmitter.”

“No need,” replied Vortoranii. “I now provide such functions.”

“…Thanks, we could have used that earlier,” I groaned. “Find the Chroma Lock.”

“I found it!” called Wyldstyle. It had a red circle, a blue left L-shape, and a green right L-shape. “Chroma Keystone, activate!” The lock design appeared in the floor. “Chroma! Red! Eiji!” I pushed Eiji into the red paint.

“What are you trying to do?!” he yelped.

“Just step into the circle bit,” I assured in a relaxing tone. Eiji did as asked.

“Chroma! Blue! Batman!” called Wyldstyle. Batman jumped into the blue paint and landed on the left L shape. “Chroma! Yellow! Tanisha!” Tanisha stepped into the yellow paint and got in the right L shape. Batman then joined Tanisha. The chroma lock revealed a panel that came up from the floor.

“Look at us,” joked GLaDOS, “making scientific discoveries together. Please use the Aerial Faith Plate to proceed but be careful. It has a weight limit and I worry that you may exceed it.” Flame projectors then descended from the ceiling just barely scratching the surface of our arc if we used the Aerial Faith Plate (jump pad) now. Another jump pad path would have us go through active Tesla plates. Gandalf puffed on his pipe for a while as if he were thinking on how to proceed. I grinned.

“All right, keep your secret,” I said to the wizard.

“Beg pardon?” he asked, acting as if I had interrupted his train of thought.

“I know you have a way to get us all there,” I observed.

“Good gracious me!” called Gandalf, acting surprised.

“We DID nab some powers that you’ve mastered,” I reminded.

“Indeed?” asked Gandalf.

“Powers that allow us to get across natural obstacles,” I continued.

“If you’re referring to the Elemental Keystone,” countered Gandalf, “I haven’t yet mastered giving you all a power. All I did was try things out on you individually.”

“Whatever the case,” I declared, “we need to be on fire, literally.”

“WHAT?!” shrieked Eiji.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” called Gandalf. “Element of fire, all allies!” The red aura surrounded us. We were immune to fire now.

“If I may lead?” asked Emily. She tried out the jump pad and landed safely on the other side. “Heavyset and fabulous girl: 1, Passive aggressive machine: 0!” she called out.

“Congratulations,” droned GLaDOS. “I always believed in you and your ability to do that thing that you just did.”

“I guess sarcasm is this thing’s only language,” muttered Wyldstyle as the rest of us rejoined Emily.

“Element of lightning, all allies!” announced Gandalf. We used another jump pad and went through the lightning, landing on another jump pad that landed us at another puzzle with electric coils and a button.

“We’re gonna need a person on each coil and a button presser,” I observed. “Eiji, you take that coil, I’ll take this one, and Tanisha can press the button.” My coil activated hard light barriers over small pools of a liquid I was sure was acid and Eiji’s coil activated pushers for a small ball that Emily released with the button. It landed in its slot at the bottom and it opened a door and activated a jump pad.

“Well done,” intoned GLaDOS. “Although, you obviously have abilities that are not listed in my database and are using them to complete the tests. In other words, you’re cheating.” We used the jump pad and entered the door to the elevator which took us to Test Chamber 03. “As a punishment for your recent cheating, I have added several Aperture Science Sentry Turrets to the following test. I didn’t want to do that, but you left me little choice. I’m very sorry.”

“Lying, as usual, you sparking malfunction,” hissed Tanisha. The sentry turrets were on three legs and had a single red eye with a laser sight. The hallway terminated with a pool of acid. Another path led us down to a platform with a tube on the ceiling with a grapple hook.

“These tests are getting more and more deadly,” rasped Batman as he fired his grapple gun. He yanked down the tube and released another person! This was a man in a red suit and tie.

“Kōsei-san!” called Eiji.

“Who now?” I asked as I helped the man up.

“That’s Kōgami Kōsei,” explained Eiji as he helped me. “He’s the one who provided me with equipment to fight my main enemy, the Greeed.” Kōsei then groaned and opened his eyes.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“You’re in another dimension,” I replied. “This place is run by an evil machine that wants to kill us.”

“I simply need you to complete the tests without cheating,” countered GLaDOS, “the turrets should prevent you from cheating.”

“Another dimension?” cheered Kōsei. He then grinned. “SUBARASHI!” (Wonderful!) “The birth of new possibilities has arrived! Happy Birthday to the proof of other universes!”

“…Happy Birthday?” I whispered to Eiji.

“He says that a lot when something begins,” explained Eiji.

“And another person’s birthday is coming today,” continued Kōsei as he pulled out a strange gun. It looked like it had a bag attached to its underside and a single slot for something circular. “If I could have the Taka (hawk) Medal you have?” said Kōsei. Eiji pulled out a cracked red coin with a gold border and handed it to Kōsei. Kōsei then put the medal into the slot on the gun and closed it. “Inside the bag,” he explained, “are enough Cell Medals to give our old friend a body, with a few Core Medals as well. This gun should fix the broken Taka Medal and restore his consciousness and body. I researched how the alchemists made the medals, so this should work, in theory.” He then raised the gun into the air.

“Anyone know what’s going on?” asked Wyldstyle.

“If only Hiroki were here,” I muttered, “he’d know the answer.”

“He’s talking about the Greeed that helped me become OOO,” explained Eiji. “The Greeed are made of silver coins called Cell Medals. The things that determine their bodies are colored medals called Core Medals. The Greeed that helped me gather Cell Medals was a red, bird themed one called Ankh. He gave his life to help me save the planet.”

“And his mind was in the broken Medal you gave Kōsei-san?” I guessed.

“That’s right,” confirmed Eiji. He turned to Kōsei. “Go ahead.” Kōsei pulled the trigger, releasing red light. Cell Medals came out of the bag as well as five red Medals, this Ankh character’s Core Medals, I guessed. He fired into the red light with the broken Medal as the ammo. It fixed the crack in itself as all the Medals coalesced to make a humanoid shape. It crouched down, then came up, spreading its limbs out and releasing red light. The light then made a shape around the Medals and made a new shape. Its left arm and legs were mummified, the right arm had talons and rings with a set of tiny, folded, feathery wings, a red jacket with a feathery design, and a bird-like head with green eyes. The creature examined itself, then started preening itself like a bird.

“I have to say, Eiji,” snarked the creature, “I didn’t think you could get me back.”

“Ankh!” called Eiji.

“Happy Birthday, Ankh!” cheered Kōsei.

“Oh, great,” moaned the creature, Ankh, “the Ham’s here.” Ankh then looked around. “Where IS here, anyways?”

“Aperture Science,” I explained. Ankh then noticed us.

“And who are you?” he asked.

“Well, that’s rude,” I hissed. “It’s polite to introduce yourself before asking questions.”

“Tch,” said Ankh. “If you must know, I’m Ankh, a Greeed that needs Medals to survive. Normally, I can do so by creating Yummies, monsters of just Cell Medals with no Cores.”

“Your endless talking and not testing is causing my sanity functions to decay at a quicker rate than SHE did,” snarled GLaDOS.

“‘SHE’ being the main protagonist of _Portal_ , Chell,” explained Emily.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I answered. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I walked down the lower hall and found the rift near the entrance of the hall with turrets. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Well, what do you know?” I mused. “That dimension pulls through again! Locate help from W-1-Z-4-R-D-0-F-0-Z!”

“Oz?” asked Emily. “What could help us there?” She got her answer as one of the Talking Trees appeared.

“Deploying,” droned the turrets in a cute, electronic voice as two barreled guns popped out from the sides and fired on the tree.

“Hey!” shouted the tree. “What are those things doing, shooting at me?! Take that, you little scamps!” He threw his dead limbs at the turrets, knocking them over and having them shoot at nowhere. Eventually, they deactivated.

“Critical error,” announced one of the turrets. The tree then turned to us and recognized us.

“You again?!” he roared. “Oh, you!”

“Dismiss help!” I yelped. The tree was sucked into the rift, rather quickly, I might add, and we gained passage into the level above us.

“What was that?!” snapped Ankh.

“Perhaps, another unauthorized element?” quizzed GLaDOS. “How can I test with so many variables?”

“That, my greedy friend and Madame Rigid clod,” I explained, “is the power of a Keystone.”

“I’ve already experienced two before,” supplied Eiji. “One of them, you have to paint yourself to unlock areas, another allows you to use the elements.”

“And I think we’ll have to change size for the next one,” continued Hongo as we walked down the formerly turret infested hall. “Scale Keystone, activate! Lessen scale of Ankh!” Ankh shrunk down.

“Now, Ankh-san,” I said, “I need someone to crawl into that vent and cause some damage inside there. Do so, and I’ll see to it that whatever Cell Medals we acquire will go to you.”

“And I can get you two years’ worth of popsicles!” offered Eiji.

“Considering I need you lot to get out of here,” mused Ankh, “I see no reason to refuse. Just warn me when use the Keystones on me again, all right?” He entered the vent.

“Oh no, where have you gone?” asked GLaDOS. “I can’t see you anywhere. How could you possibly have escaped?” She dropped the sarcasm. “You know my cameras have zoom-lenses, don’t you?”

“Guys, can you increase my size to a giant’s height?” asked Ankh from inside the wall.

“Yes, why?” I asked.

“I have an idea,” hinted Ankh.

“Something you want to share with the class?” I asked.

“Not yet,” replied Ankh.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Hongo-san, go ahead.”

“Enlarge scale of Ankh,” announced Hongo. A giant Ankh then burst through the wall and swept aside the turrets that were in front of us. “Normalize scale of Ankh,” said Hongo. Ankh preened himself with pride. A massive glass cage with a giant turret inside popped up from a panel in the floor.

“Deploying Prototype Super Deadly Mega Turret in 3, 2, 1!” reported GLaDOS. The turret started firing from inside the cage.

“Allow me to handle this,” offered Gandalf. He used his magic to lift the turret, making it sing a note, shattering the glass cage it rested in. He then moved it to other glass barriers, shattering them, then threw it into the acid pool. Eiji and Kōsei then went up ramps that popped up from the floors to the areas where the glass cages were and pressed the buttons there, making another ramp pop up and head to a door, which unlocked.

“The Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center congratulates you on yet another amazing job,” droned GLaDOS. “Go you.” The door led to an elevator which went to Test Chamber 04. “This test room is impossible,” called GLaDOS. “The enrichment center apologizes for this clearly broken test chamber.” It consisted of three pressure switches and two large boxes. We needed help.

“Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” The crack was near the door. “Identify source of rift!” The information was beamed into my head. “Locate help from B-4-C-K-T-0-T-H-3-F-U-T-U-R-3!” I directed. Another dimension I happened to like. The Time Train barreled through and destroyed the boxes. The crew popped out. Marty had grown older and was in cowboy clothes, Doc Brown and Clara were about to hit their twilight years, and their sons, Jules and Verne, were old enough to have jobs.

“Great Scott!” called Marty.

“Doc Brown?” yelped Batman. “What are you doing here?”

“When are we?” asked Jules.

“At this point, it’s where,” replied Tanisha. “You’re in Aperture Science, in another dimension.”

“Another dimension?” asked Marty.

“Another universe, like when Biff Tannen married your mom,” elaborated Emily.

“Don’t remind m…how do you know?!” asked Marty.

“Because we’re from other dimensions too,” I explained. “Your dimension is a work of fiction, set in three movies surrounding your adventures in time when you were a teen.”

“I see,” cheered Doc Brown. “So, we didn’t travel in time. I thought so, given that that saloon girl stole the Flux Capacitor in the lamp.”

“Saloon girl?” I asked.

“Some Asian woman,” replied Marty. “She called herself…Eagle…I think. Her accent was thick.”

“Igura!” I hissed. “So, the Flux Capacitor was the Foundation Element of your world!”

“Foundation Element?” asked Clara.

“We’ll explain later,” I assured, “I promise on my honor as the reigning monarch of the Feudal Nerd Society. But the time and place for explanations is not here, not now.”

“Feudal Nerd Society?” quizzed Marty. “I thought ‘nerd’ was an insult.”

“Not in my time or my universe,” I replied. “In any case, you’re not supposed to be here. I’ll get you back.”

“Thank you,” cheered Doc Brown as he and his family and friend boarded the Time Train.

“Dismiss help,” I directed. The train and its passengers disappeared into the vortex.

“Oh, you fixed it,” hissed GLaDOS. “How…wonderful. You know, I was joking when I said it was impossible. That was part of the test and you didn’t give up. You kept going despite knowing everything you were doing was futile. Just like the inherent pointlessness of your existence.”

“Says the pointless malfunctioning machine,” quipped Tanisha. The boxes that the Time Train destroyed revealed two buttons, one surrounded by electricity, the other surrounded by fire.

“Gandalf,” I requested.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Megumi! Element of lightning, Emily!” We were surrounded by the respective auras and pressed the buttons that corresponded to our elements. Panels came out from the ceiling and the floor as an energy ball came from the wall and was deflected by the panels to the other wall, undoing the first lock to the door.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Cyan, in the left alcove! Yellow, in the middle alcove! Magenta, in the right alcove! Shift! Batman! Cyan! Shift! Eiji! Yellow! Shift! Kōsei! Magenta!” Eiji and Kōsei were caught off guard as they were sucked into the portal. Ankh laughed as he turned into Cell Medals before reforming into a human shape. His disguise was a man with hair swept and curling to the right with the left part shaved. He wore a short-sleeved jacket with a red right sleeve over a white shirt. He wore red pants and tennis shoes. His right hand and forearm still stayed in its Greeed shape.

“Now I’ve seen everything!” laughed Ankh. “Happy Birthday to a surprised Kōgami!” The three men had triggered pressure switches that directed an energy ball to go down a certain path. It entered another socket on the other end and undid the second lock, allowing us access to the elevator.

“You must be very proud of yourself,” droned GLaDOS. “You, *SUBJECT NAME HERE*, must be the apple of *SUBJECT’S FATHER’S NAME HERE*’s eye.” We entered the elevator and went up to Test Chamber 05. “For this next test,” called GLaDOS, “Thermal Discouragement Beams have been added to the testing environment. Health and Safety would advise you to avoid contact with those lasers, however, the Health and Safety office is closed today, so, please, disregard that advice. In addition, the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center has employed the help of two mutations.”

“Mutations?” I asked. That’s when Turretorg arrived with a friend. It was a monster that had crab claws as well as crab legs draping from its back but stood on two humanoid legs and had hands under the claws. The monster seemed to be based off the Spider crab in Japan. It certainly had the face for it, with a human face underneath. I had a distinct feeling Vortech had a hand in this. Ankh tensed up.

“A Yummy?!” he yelped.


	24. Chapter 24

I snorted with laughter as I heard Ankh say who the monster with Turretorg was. “A ‘Yummy’?” I giggled.

“Don’t be fooled by the name!” countered Ankh. “They’re made up of Cell Medals like the Greeed, but don’t have Core Medals. They’re monsters that we use for food, to replenish our bodies. They’re born out of desire, any desire!”

“Vortech sent me and my partners he brought back from the dead here,” answered Turretorg, “to stop your progress.”

“So, that’s why one of Mezool’s Yummies is here,” hissed Eiji. “She been brought back to life!”

“Then we need to find the host so we can get to her Yummy nest,” declared Ankh.

“Nest?” I asked.

“Mezool is a water based Greeed,” explained Ankh. “Like me, she can create Yummies out of any desire by putting a Cell Medal into a person. Each Greeed’s Yummies are born in different ways. My Yummies start as a giant bird egg before hatching into a white, mummy-like humanoid, then maturing into their bird-like humanoid state. Mezool’s Yummies begin as a fish egg nest. They mature and hatch out of the eggs once they’ve gained enough desire.”

“He looks kind of creepy, but probably not all that strong,” mused Eiji.

“He’s a crustacean monster,” countered Tanisha. “I think the shell would hurt you if you punched it.”

“On top of that,” I continued, “He’s based on the Takaashigani (tall legged crab), or, Spider Crab, if you prefer. He can probably grow those legs on his back.”

“Looks like I need to give you two your birthday present,” cheered Kōsei. He produced a box with a bow on it and opened it. It had more red Core Medals, two Taka Medals, one with a peacock design, and one with a condor design.

“My Core Medals?” yelped Ankh. “Hold on, there are two Taka Medals and Eiji already has the Kujaku (peacock) and Condor Medals. I have six medals already! That makes twelve Core Medals! I need only nine!”

“I made these four so you could revive with the remaining Kujaku and Condor medal and the extra Taka medal,” replied Kōsei. “Eiji can use the remaining Taka medal and the Kujaku and Condor Medals he has to make his Tajador Combo.”

“So, I can completely revive!” cheered Ankh. He handed Eiji the extra Taka medal while he took the remaining three. As they were absorbed into him, Ankh turned into his complete Greeed form. The arm and legs weren’t mummified. The arm looked like a mirror image of the right arm and the legs gained red armored boots. Emily, Tanisha, and I took out our i.d tags. Eiji took out a small black book with blue lines like his belt, opened it, and grabbed a yellow tiger Medal and a green grasshopper Medal. He gave the book to Kōsei and inserted the Taka, tiger, and grasshopper medals into the slots. He then tilted the Medal holder so it went upper right to lower left. Hongo struck his henshin pose as Eiji slid a circular device on a rail across the Medal holder from right to left. Colored rings appeared around the Medals. The colors corresponded to the Medals the device scanned.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all called.

“TAKA! TORA! (Tiger) BATTA! (grasshopper)” announced the scanner. “Tatoba! Tatoba TATOBA!” As it sang, holographic images of Core Medals floated through Eiji’s neck to the scalp, around his arms, and around his legs. The head circle stopped at the red Taka Medal, the arm circle stopped at the yellow Tora Medal, and the leg circle stopped at the green Batta Medal. A black suit formed; the Medal symbols came together to make a black circle with the animal symbols colored in their respective colors. The Taka symbol led to the helmet, making it look like a hawk in flight around the green eyes, the Tora symbol went to the shoulders and traveled down the arms to a set of three claws folded back. The Batta symbol traveled down the body to the green boots.

“Shall we fight together, OOO?” asked Ichigō.

“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” replied Eiji, Kamen Rider OOO.

“I’d go for catchphrases,” I muttered as I drew my blade, “but we’re pressed for time.”

“Try not to kill Turretorg!” called Vortoranii.

“WHAT?!” snapped Ankh. “He’s an enemy!”

“Not his fault!” I argued. “He’s being controlled by Vortech.”

“An innocent being brainwashed!” moaned OOO. “This gets easier and easier!”

“Try the back of his neck!” called Vortoranii. We drew our weapons and charged at the bad guys. My guess about the Takaashigani Yummy was right. The legs extended and kept its main body in the air. OOO extended his claws and slashed at the legs, but they grew back. The old wounds bled Cell Medals before they healed. It used its legs to try and brush us into a laser, which we avoided. Turretorg tackled Hunt and morphed his right hand into its cannon mode. I grabbed him and flung him off. He then fired on me, getting a few shots in. I then started the Super Charge sequence.

“SUPER CHARGE!” I announced. My suit bulked out and I turned white with gold trim. After I became Proto-Vortex, I touched OOO’s shoulder. The new i.d tag appeared. I swapped my i.d tag for the new one. The medals appeared again, this time, around me. “OOO,” I called, “what’re the most powerful Medals you have?!”

“Taka, Kujaku, and Condor, if you want to play it safe, why?!” asked OOO.

“I may need that bit of power to get Turretorg back to the side of justice!” I replied. I picked out the Medals and the wardrobe closed on me.

“OOO Tajador Steel!” announced Vortoranii. Then a voice like OOO’s scanner spoke.

“TAKA! KUJAKU! CONDOR!” it called. As the wardrobe dissolved, the voice sang “TAJADOR!” My helmet gained larger red wings around the eyes, red, wing-like shoulder pads appeared on my shoulders, an image of a red bird appeared on my chest, and my boots looked like talons. I had gained a small shield on my left arm with the Tajador symbol on it. OOO, Kōsei, and Ankh were surprised.

“How did you do that?!” yelped Ankh.

“I’ll explain later!” I assured. As, Turretorg and I traded blows, I discovered that the shield could be opened to allow something circular to fit inside. I placed the i.d tag into it and closed it. I pulled on the back of the shield, making the i.d tag go in a circle. I hovered my hand over the shield, miming OOO using his scanner.

“TAKA! KUJAKU! CONDOR!” announced the voice. “GIN! GIN! GIN! GIGA SCAN!” The shield was then enveloped in fire. I punched with my left hand to let a fire disc hit Turretorg. He fell, spasming uncontrollably. I found a circuit board embedded into his fur.

“Is that supposed to be there?” I asked.

“No, that’s one of the old slave circuits,” explained Vortoranii. “I’d extract it now before he explodes.” I ripped it off of Turretorg, making him yelp before passing out.

“I guess that works,” I muttered. The Takaashigani Yummy then threw me into a wall. I then drew my blade and slashed at the legs. After a while, Turretorg regained his senses. He shook his head and opened his now white eyes. When he saw what was happening, he fired on the Yummy.

“What are you doing?!” protested the Yummy. “This is not your usual behavior!”

“Your master will PAY for enslaving the Tarlaxians!” roared Turretorg. He used his hip rockets and fired on the chest of the Yummy. The carapace cracked. After bleeding some Cell Medals, it fixed itself up.

“Subjects behaving erratically,” droned the Yummy. “Congratulations, you’ve successfully demonstrated how irrational emotions are. Deadly neurotoxin would be pumped into the room to show your victory, but the pumps are not working today. We are so sorry.”

“Neurotoxin?” gulped Hunt. “That’s GLaDOS’ main weapon!”

“Then GLaDOS must be the Yummy host,” figured Ankh. “We need to follow the stream to the nest so we can destroy.”

“Problem,” countered Touché, “there isn’t any water in GLaDOS’ chamber. Given that she’s a machine, I’d be surprised if there was even a water cooler.”

“GLaDOS is a machine?” asked Ankh.

“And she is the host for my nest,” answered the Yummy.

“That’s impossible!” protested Ankh. “Yummies only take the desires of humans!”

“We take the desires of any creature,” corrected the Yummy.

“Explain how your regeneration works,” demanded Batman, having a hunch.

“Unable to comply,” reported the Yummy. “To do so would expose a weakness.”

“Guys, grab onto the legs and yank them off!” directed Batman, deciding to try and prove his hunch. “OOO, Turretorg, try and shatter the carapace!”

“I can do that with just the Sai (Rhino), Gorilla, and Zou (Elephant) Medals!” called OOO.

“Catch!” yelled Kōsei as he tossed OOO gray Core Medals. We then started pulling the long legs off.

“NO! STOP!” shouted the Yummy. “MY LEGS ARE…!” the legs turned into Cell Medals. The regeneration was taking longer. OOO then replaced the Medals he was using with the gray ones and scanned them.

“SAI! GORILLA! ZOU!” announced the OOO scanner. “Sagozo! SAGOZO!” OOO’s armor changed. The helmet’s eyes turned red and turned into a single whitish-gray horn. The arms turned into silver, beefed up gauntlets with bulky shoulder pads. The feet turned into dark gray boots with a curved toe. He then beat his chest like a gorilla and started roaring. The soundwaves kept the Yummy airborne while OOO swiped the scanner across the belt. “SCANNING CHARGE!” it called. OOO then floated into the air, then came down hard, making the Yummy fall into the cracked floor. The ground then brought the Yummy towards OOO whose fists and horn glowed gray-white before he simultaneously punched and headbutted the Yummy, while shouting “SEIYA!” (star arrow) while Turretorg shot its chest, making the Yummy explode in a shower of Cell Medals. The floor repaired itself as we cancelled our transformations.

“That was a tough one,” sighed Eiji as he mopped his brow, “both figuratively and literally.”

“So, that’s the power of a Core Medal,” mused Turretorg. Ankh and Eiji got into a fighting stance.

“Back off,” I called. “If I’m right, Turretorg is on our side.”

“My Lady,” answered Turretorg, “permit me to make up for my crimes against you.”

“You…remember?” I asked.

“Every single detail,” confirmed Turretorg. “I was originally sent along with a large team organized by my Queen Empress, Scorpainia, to collect on a bounty that was placed on Vortech’s head for unauthorized use of Vortonian technology, unauthorized access to an off-limits dimension, and kidnapping!”

“So, you tried to deal with the hostage situation before he got you,” I summed up.

“Exactly,” confirmed Turretorg.

“Foundation Prime was off-limits?” asked Emily.

“No one should possess the Foundation Elements’ power,” elaborated Turretorg. “It was a joint decision proposed by the Tarlaxians, for fear we might be enslaved with their power, and adopted by the Vortonians, who helped us gain freedom to govern our own affairs.”

“And this…Vortech didn’t agree,” guessed Ankh.

“He desperately wants to create a world without chaos, conflict, or any act of disobedience,” confirmed Turretorg.

“But that’s what makes new things possible!” protested Kōsei.

“Vortech doesn’t see it that way,” replied Turretorg. While we talked, Gandalf had pulled a cube with a mirror in it and set it at our feet.

“We’re gonna need that!” directed Emily. “It’ll direct the laser beam elsewhere!”

“I think those glass boxes will need to be cracked open,” I called. “I’ll get help. Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” It was located near a turnstile for the mirror cube. I jumped over a laser beam to get to it. “Identify source of rift!” I announced. The information beamed into my head…and my face fell. “Why?” I wailed. “Why there?! Anywhere but there!”

“The Simpsons’ dimension?” guessed Emily.

“The Simpsons’ dimension!” I confirmed, whining.

“What’s wrong about that dimension?” asked Ankh.

“Knowing that dimension,” gulped Turretorg, remembering our first encounter, “you’ll find out.”

“Why that dimension?!” I whined.

“I hate to be a pain,” interjected Tanisha, “but whining won’t help. Might as well suck it up.” Sadly, she was right, whining won’t make the problem go away.

“Locate help from T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5,” I moaned. A wrecking ball came through the ceiling with Homer on the ball, literally. He was screaming as he was smashed into the boxes three times before they broke. “Dismiss help!” I called. The wrecking ball and its passenger were brought back up into the rift and it closed. Another turnstile was revealed.

“That was not part of the test,” droned GLaDOS, “and, as a result, you have damaged the testing environment. An extra *9999* days of testing will be required to repay expenses. I hope you brought a packed lunch.”

“Let me direct the beam,” requested Turretorg. “I can handle the heat from a mere laser.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to make you feel like…a slave again.”

“It’s my choice,” replied Turretorg.

“Well, as long as that’s what’s influencing you,” I answered, “go ahead.”

“Thank you,” reciprocated Turretorg. He turned the first turnstile to direct the beam into the next turnstile.

“Guys,” called Wyldstyle, “we need to find the Chroma discs. I see a Chroma Lock over there.” She pointed to a box with the Chroma Lock design being a red left L-shape, a yellow right L-shape, and a blue circle. It was covering a turnstile.

“I can see both blue and red,” observed Tanisha, “but yellow’s out of my sight.”

“It ain’t out of mine,” replied Emily. “It’s up there.” She pointed to an observation room. The yellow Chroma Disc was on a shelf near an opening in the window. “Hongo, I think we need the Scale Keystone again. I can grab it. Shrink me down so I can crawl through the vents, then make me big to get the shelf to tilt the Chroma Disc through the window.”

“Understood,” confirmed Hongo. “Scale Keystone, activate! Lessen scale of Emily!” Emily shrank down. And crawled into the vents. We waited and waited…and waited……and waited.

“It shouldn’t take this long,” I muttered.

“She’s wearing a dress,” deduced Batman. “The skirts are most likely interfering with her steps.”

“You know,” droned GLaDOS, “I heard the lasers talking about you before. They were saying how much they like you. I think you two should hug.”

“Made it!” panted a tired, tiny voice. Emily came out of the vent, puffing and panting. “Do you know how hard it is to climb in a dress?!” She then went under the shelf.

“Enlarge scale of Emily!” called Hongo. Emily grew and tilted the shelf towards the opening in the window. The Yellow Chroma Disc fell to the floor. Emily then came through the window. “Normalize scale of Emily,” said Hongo.

“That is now an extra *9999* days to pay for the window,” answered GLaDOS as Emily shrank back to her normal size.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma Lock, reveal! Chroma! Blue! Ankh!”

“What do you expect me to…?” Ankh didn’t finish his sentence as Eiji tossed him into the blue paint. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!” he screeched.

“It’s needed,” chuckled Eiji, with a slight grin. “Now, just step into the circle.” Ankh complied with a “Tch” of irritation.

“Chroma! Red! Kōsei!” announced Wyldstyle. Kōsei jumped into the red paint and stepped into the left L-shape. “Chroma! Yellow! Turretorg!” called Wyldstyle. Turretorg jumped into the paint and leapt into the right L-shape. The box around the last turnstile shattered as the paint slid off.

“The Thermal Discouragement Beams are perfect for corrective eye surgery,” droned GLaDOS. “Why not give it a try?” Turretorg then adjusted the turnstiles to let the laser beam hit a part on the wall near the door, unlocking it to a small room in the test chamber. We approached the elevator, but it didn’t move. “It appears the exit elevator has malfunctioned,” called GLaDOS. “Let me give it a nudge and we can continue.”

“You don’t even have hands!” protested Ankh.

“Don’t feed her!” wailed Tanisha. The elevator bounced up and down.

“Well,” called GLaDOS, “that didn’t work. A repair associate will be dispatched…eventually. Until then, sit back and wait. Give up, if you’d like, I won’t judge you.”

“Come back here and fix it!” shouted Ankh to the sky. No one replied. “I SAID FIX IT!”

“Impatient, much?” I mused to Eiji.

“That’s a downfall to being greedy,” replied Eiji. Kōsei chuckled.

“Is something funny?” I asked.

“Perhaps impatience is a downfall to desire,” conceded Kōsei, “but it isn’t the only sin of humankind. Without desire, nothing can be accomplished. When a baby cries, it shows that it wants something. That desire is infinite!” He then drew out a frosting bag and squirted the contents on the floor in the shape of an infinity loop. “But, obtain power, and you have something beyond infinity!” He made a third loop to make the symbol look like three o’s on the floor. He then leaned up to the heavens and held his hands out to his sides. “OOO!” he shouted.

“So, that’s what the King wanted?” asked Eiji. Ankh scoffed.

“Anyone trying to claim infinity is a fool, as you’ve demonstrated,” replied the Greeed to Kōsei. While that was going on, Emily was fiddling with the ribbon of her hair ornament. She seemed to be deep in thought.

“Something on your mind?” I asked.

“GLaDOS may control the facility,” explained Emily, “but there ARE areas beyond her notice. If we can find one…”

“Hey, over here!” called a cockney voice in a whisper. We jumped and located the source of the whisper. A small grey-white ball on a rail with a single blue eye, eye lids, and a wire on the top and bottom of the eye to show emotion was talking behind a glass wall. Emily and Tanisha were showing surprise.

“Wheatley?” quizzed Emily.

“I thought he was floating through space,” muttered Tanisha. I turned to her for an explanation. “Before GLaDOS took over, the scientists made all sorts of cores to slow her down. Wheatley, over there, is the intelligence dampening core. He would always bombard GLaDOS with terrible ideas and tried to take over the facility. He was sent screaming through space with a core obsessed with space. I wonder how he came back here?”

“Long story short,” replied Wheatley, “a massive, blue portal sent me back here, before I came through other areas. I came to this fortress, headed by a guy made of space…”

“Vortech?!” I yelped.

“Yeah, that was his name!” replied Wheatley. “He went on about ‘claiming the multiverse’, or some such nonsense. In any event, I came here and GLaDOS put me back on my management rail. Look, I’ve got absolutely no time to go into any more detail than is necessary, but, remove these screws,” his eye looked at the giant screws holding the glass wall in place, “and I’ll do the rest.”

“Hold on,” hissed Emily, “why should we trust you?!”

“Do we have a choice?” I asked. “Gandalf, if you please.” Gandalf started using his magic to unscrew the screws. Wheatley was staring at him, and it made him uncomfortable.

“Er, good day,” he gulped.

“Hello!” called Wheatley. “Listen, I would have helped earlier, but she thinks I’m watching the test subjects. Now, the thing is, eh heh heh, I may have made a slightly smallish huge mistake with that. Now, don’t panic. What’s gonna happen is, if she finds out, she’ll probably want to use you for testing, forever, and probably switch me off.”

“That’s supposed to keep me from panicking?!” I yelped.

“So,” continued Wheatley, “my suggestion is, let’s not let that happen,” no DUH! “and work together to avoid that inevitable, erm, terrible outcome.” The screws were finally off. “Anyway,” called Wheatley, “stand back. I’m going to attempt to hack this panel!”

“Er, there’s no…never mind,” I mumbled. Wheatley’s “hacking” was him banging himself on the panel.

“Argh, I must have…forgot to carry the, um, zero,” he grumbled. “And, um, let me try again. Let me try again. I don’t suppose you know what…what’s Pi? Is it three something?”

“What does Pi have to do with…I mean…why should you…ugh, I can’t…” poor Batman was trying to process what was going on. Wheatley was throwing his detective ideals out of whack. Emily patted his shoulder to reassure him. Wheatley went back further in the rail and rushed forward, knocking the panel off.

“HA!” cheered the little ball. “Yes! Take that, panel! In your…slots! Consider yourself hacked by the best…at hacking! Alright, this way!”

“I don’t like this at all,” I thought as we followed Wheatley.

“Okay,” called Wheatley, “follow me and I can get you out of here. Now, listen, she thinks she knows this facility really well, but, little does she know, there’s a tunnel up here,” he moved on the rail upwards, “that leads you straight to…she does know about it.”

“She’s blocked it up?” guessed Batman.

“Yes,” muttered Wheatley. “Thing is…‘pipe being open’…was a LARGE part of my escape plan. Have you got a plan B?”

“I think I have one,” called Wyldstyle as she pointed to a grapple hook.

“Shall we?” said Emily to Batman. She drew out her i.d tag. “Henshin.”

“Might as well,” muttered Batman as Emily became Touché again. She swapped i.d tags.

“Batman Steel!” announced her belt. Batman and Touché then fired their grapple guns and yanked down some pipe to make a ramp leading up to the blocked pipe. We used it and arrived at the blocked pipe. As Touché cancelled her transformation, Gandalf used his magic to unblock the pipe.

“We did it, strangers!” cheered Wheatley.

“We?” I snarled. My patience had worn thin. “Unless bumping into things and stupidly rambling counts, I haven’t seen you show a circuit to help!”

“I got you in here and led you to a randomly guessed…carefully worked out and calculated pipe!” protested Wheatley as he moved towards me. “Do I need to prove myself by getting off the management rail I’m using?!”

“Well,” I hissed, “perhaps if Emily’s train of thought hadn’t been sidelined by a certain babbling, bumbling ball that can’t even figure out the first digits of Pi even if he had the formula spelled out and a calculator on his person, she might have figured a way out of that test chamber!”

“Meg, let it go,” called Tanisha as my allies were going down the pipe.

“He can’t help being programmed as an idiot,” sighed Emily. She was the last person to go down.

“HEY! WAIT FOR ME!” I shouted as I went down. “I’M THE LEADER! I GO FIRST!” We landed in Test Chamber 09.

“There you are,” called GLaDOS. “I was just about to send the search party as I was getting so worried. Let us continue, for science.” It was a big room with a moving panel in the wall over spikes and a platform with a button in the middle, a room full of green smoke, a vent leading to a tiny button, a small hall with turrets, and a chroma design with a red circle, a purple left L-shape, and an orange right L-shape. “Oh, look,” droned GLaDOS. “It’s my favorite thing in the whole wide world, deadly neurotoxin. Be careful, you don’t want to breathe too much of it in.” The red Chroma Disc was down the tiny hall.

“We need another distraction,” whispered Ankh.

“Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” It was just outside the hall. “Identify source of rift!” The info was beamed into my head. “Oh, the dimension with all the running,” I gulped. “Awesome. Locate help from T-0-R-C-H-W-0-0-D! Wait, what?”

“Let me refresh that,” called Vortoranii, “The identifier string didn’t load properly. Here’s the real name.”

“Thank you,” I lauded. “Locate help from D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0!” A Dalek had appeared at the end of the hall. The turrets fired on it to no avail.

“Exterminate!” shouted the Dalek as it fired on the turrets. “Exterminate!” The turrets were destroyed. Once that was done, the Dalek swiveled its dome to gain as much data of its surroundings when it saw us. “Vortex Riders located! Your interference has disrupted the conquest of New Mondas! It took days to get the Emperor back to its proper size! The invasion was a failure because of your presence! Your existence has been decreed an intolerance! You will be exterminated!” It brought its gunstick to bear.

“Guys, I’ll handle the trashcan,” I called as I drew my i.d tag. “Dalek, you’ll find that I’ve gotten stronger! Henshin!” I turned into Royal and started the Super Charge sequence. “SUPER CHARGE!” I announced. I then swapped my i.d tag for the Cyberman one.

“Cyberman Steel!” called Vortoranii. “Hold on, what’s your endgame?!”

“I want to try something out,” I said as the wardrobe dissolved, revealing my Cyberman-like armor. I then summoned my Super Charge blade. I put the Cyberman i.d tag into the hilt.

“Final attack!” announced the sword as blueish-grey light surrounded the blade.

“RIDER CYBERMAN SLASH!” I shouted. As I swung my sword, a Cyberman made of light rushed towards the Dalek, swung an invisible sword, and bisected it right down the middle. The Dalek exploded as the Cyberman disappeared. “Dismiss help,” I said. The remains of the Dalek went into the rift as I cancelled my transformation.

“What was that?” asked GLaDOS. “It was all ‘Exterminate’, and there was fire and explosions. I think I admire its attitude.”

“You would,” I muttered. Gandalf had released the Chroma disc from the box on the wall and brought it out of the hall. Turretorg approached the vent.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” announced Hongo. “Lessen scale of Turretorg!” Turretorg shrunk and climbed his way into the vents. He went to the button and pressed it. It opened a tube and dropped the yellow Chroma Disc. Turretorg came out. “Normalize scale of Turretorg!” called Hongo. As Turretorg grew, Gandalf prepared to use his Keystone as he saw a giant box surrounded by fire.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced the grey wizard. “Element of water, Eiji!” Eiji was surrounded in a blue aura. He doused the flames and revealed a small sprout. “Element of Earth, Eiji!” Eiji’s aura went from blue to green as he grew plants that tore the glass box apart to reveal the blue Chroma disc.

“My turn!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal! Chroma! Red! Emily!” After Emily painted herself, she stepped into the circle. “Chroma! Blue! Eiji!” Eiji went to the left L-shape and I stepped in to join him, turning our section purple. “Chroma! Yellow! Batman!” Batman occupied the right L-shape as I went over to that section. The Chroma Lock flashed as it opened a panel in the wall that revealed a button. I pressed it, unlocking the first part of the door.

“And now, it’s up to me,” rasped Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Yellow, on the moving panel! Magenta, in the observation room! Cyan, on the wall near the door!” Batman waited until the right moment to send someone over through the yellow portal. It started its journey from right to left. “Shift! Yellow! Emily!” Emily landed on the platform with the button and pressed it to shut off the neurotoxin. The green gas left the room. “Shift! Emily! Magenta!” Emily landed in the observation room and pressed the button in there, unlocking the door completely. “Shift! Emily! Cyan!” As Emily came back, GLaDOS had something to say.

“I think the rose girl deserves some recognition,” she droned. “Through cheating, ignoring the rules, destroying the enrichment center, and being obese, you have completed this round of testing. Congratulations.”

“I only weigh about 169 pounds,” snarked Emily. “You, on the other hand, weigh, what, four tons?” She snickered as Tanisha high-fived her.

“That hurts, you know,” replied GLaDOS.

“If you can’t take by the same kind of barb you made with me,” taunted Emily, “your alloys must be weaker than I thought.”

“Did you just call me thin skinned?” said GLaDOS with a dangerous hiss.

“No, I called you poorly constructed,” continued Emily.

“Let’s get going before she tries to kill us!” gulped Wyldstyle. We entered the elevator and went up, and up…and up…until we arrived in a chamber with a mess of hydraulics, wires, armor, and a single yellow eye hanging from the ceiling. A small waterway was made in the chamber with a roe substance, like fish eggs, near the edge.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” introduced Tanisha, “say hello to GLaDOS.”

“Welcome,” droned GLaDOS as she moved towards us. “*Insert party noises here* A party associate will be along shortly with your congratulatory cake for surviving…I mean…completing all of the tests. For now, allow me and my friends to keep you entertained.” Four monsters and a man in a dark suit, glasses, and a small doll on his arm came down. One of the monsters had a yellow coloration and was built like a mix of jungle cats with dreadlocks and gauntlets with claws. The second monster was green with a mix of insects, antennae, and a single gauntlet on his left arm with two claws. The third monster was blue, with a woman’s shape, a cape across her shoulders, and a full orca for a head. The last monster was grey, trotting right behind the blue monster. It was big, had a head that looked like a mix of rhino and elephant, a giant set of fists, and large feet.

“Friends of yours?” I asked Ankh.

“My fellow Greeed,” replied Ankh. “The yellow one’s Kazari, made of the yellow feline based Core Medals. The blue one’s Mezool, made of the blue marine Core Medals. Uva’s green with insect Core Medals. Gamel’s the big grey one with the Sagozo combo Medals.”

“And the human is Dr. Maki!” yelped Eiji. “But I destroyed him ages ago!” Dr. Maki turned to his doll before speaking.

“You did end my life and my mission,” replied Dr. Maki. “The end of the world would have been beautiful, but you made me fail with Ankh’s medals. However, the Greeed and I were brought back by Vortech and used GLaDOS to help build an army to secure the Foundation Element for him. I’m sorry, but you must turn back and let us get the cake so the beautiful end to the multiverse can commence.”

“Not a chance!” I declared as I delivered a kick to the doll. It sunk into his arm before my foot connected! It reappeared on his other arm.

“Nice try,” taunted Dr. Maki.

“So, you’re still the Kyoryu Greeed,” mused Eiji.

“Kyoryu?” I asked. “He’s a Greeed based on the Kyoryu?”

“What’s Kyoryu mean?” asked Batman.

“It’s the Japanese word for dinosaurs,” I explained.

“He’s based off the dinosaurs?” asked Wyldstyle.

“Indeed, I am,” replied Dr. Maki.

“Never mind the Greeed,” declared Batman. “We need to take GLaDOS down, find the cake, and go!” All Riders got ready.

“Rider…” began Hongo. Eiji scanned the Taka, Tora, and Batta medals.

“HENSHIN!” we shouted.

“TAKA! TORA! BATTA!” called Eiji’s scanner. “Tatoba! Tatoba, TATOBA!” We all stood ready.

“Now, we do catchphrases,” I declared. “Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!” OOO, Ankh, Turretorg, and Kōsei had to come up with their own catchphrases quickly.

“Turretorg, reporting to crash the party!”

“Kamen Rider OOO! Anything goes!”

“I am Ankh and I desire your defeat!”

“I am Kōsei Kōgami! Prepare for a wonderful battle!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“Wrong,” droned GLaDOS, “you are an annoyance.” The Yummy nest then started shaking.

“They’re about to hatch!” warned Ankh. All the Yummies came out as Takaashigani Yummies. We got swarmed. Thankfully, there wasn’t much room for them to stretch their legs. We were making them bleed Cell Medals, but not fast enough. Mezool fired a stream of water at OOO, knocking him off his feet. Ankh ran to take her down, but Gamel was in the way.

“Don’t…bully…Mezool!” he said in a strained tone.

“After she absorbed you and your Cores, you still follow her like a dog?” scoffed Ankh.

“She…did it…to save me!” groaned Gamel.

“You fool, she used you to gain her complete form!” protested Ankh.

“Lies!” said Gamel as he punched Ankh. Batman finally managed to get a Yummy to fall apart, then he looked up.

“Watch out!” he shouted. “MOVE!” GLaDOS had commanded a spike plate to crush us. We got out of the way, along with the Greeed, but a few Yummies weren’t so lucky.

“Will you just stay still and get what’s coming to you?” she snapped. She tried again.

“We have lingered in this place for far too long!” called Gandalf as we dodged the spike plate. “We must hurry!” GLaDOS tried one last time, but it was the same result as the last. The number of Yummies was easier to manage.

“You idiot!” roared Uva. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Congratulations,” hissed GLaDOS. “You have successfully avoided getting squashed. I’ve observed that the bird man was obsessed with collecting these, so have some as a reward.” “These” were the Cell Medals from the Yummies. She pushed them towards Ankh. The Greeed were shocked.

“You traitor!” snarled Kazari.

“Those were meant for us!” roared Dr. Maki. He then mutated into his monster form. His shoulders gained shoulder pads looking like Pteranodon wings as well as a cape. His chest looked more like a Triceratops head, complete with horns. His hands gained purple claws and his feet looked like T-Rex feet. The head mutated to have aspects of a Pteranodon with a single, visor-like, red eye. He charged at Ankh, but it was too late. All the Cell Medals were gone. He was about to strike Ankh down, but OOO swatted the hand aside. Dr. Maki then turned his attention to OOO. “Very well, since you want to die so badly!” he snarled. He then slammed his fists into OOO’s chest. OOO was flung back and got up in great pain.

“Kōsei,” he groaned, “I need the purple Medals.” Ankh heard that.

“You kept them?!” he shouted. “Don’t you remember how dangerous Putotyra is?!”

“We need to finish it quickly!” argued OOO. “Besides, I’ve been practicing with them!” Ankh scoffed as purple Core Medals flew to OOO, courtesy of Kōsei. OOO replaced the Medals he was using with the purple ones and scanned them.

“PTERA! TRICERA! TYRANNO!” announced the scanner. Instead of the usual medals, rings of purple flew around the head, arms, and legs. His outfit changed from a black body suit to a white one with a Pteranodon style helmet with green eyes, horns on the front like a Triceratops, purple gauntlets, and purple boots looking like T-Rex feet. The Medal images came together and attached to his chest. “PUTOTYRANNOSAURUS!” sang the scanner. OOO let off a roar before he slammed his fist into the ground and extracted an axe with a T-Rex head design. It also had a purple cylinder at the bottom over the handle and a black handle on the back of the head.

“He’s a lunatic!” scoffed Ankh.

“I don’t see the danger,” I admitted.

“The Core Medals are born from desire,” explained Dr. Maki. “Mine are born from the antithesis of desire. As such, my Medals will cause him to want to destroy everything as a mindless animal.”

“Not…so…mindless!” grunted OOO. Ankh caught that.

“He only growled when using the purple Medals!” recalled Ankh.

“Been…training!” explained OOO. He swung the axe with the intent on bringing it onto Dr. Maki’s head. The Kyoryu Greeed dodged. GLaDOS decided to interfere again.

“Your next test,” she droned, “is to see how well you follow instructions. Feel free to use your ‘Shift Keystone’ when you can be bothered to start.”

“She’s up to something,” I thought. “Humor her,” I said to Batman.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced the Dark Knight. “Magenta, near us! Cyan, 120 degrees from Magenta’s left! Yellow, 120 degrees from Magenta’s right!” GLaDOS had gone up into the ceiling and lowered laser walls.

“She’s activating another trap!” said Gandalf. Panels opened from the floor, allowing glass containers to come out. They were pumping neurotoxin into two of the three sections! Out of the Greeed and us Vortex Riders, we were in the neurotoxin parts!

“What’s wrong?” asked GLaDOS. “You look tired. Would you like to take a break or a nap? Maybe I could get an associate to rub your feet for you if I’m not boring you too much.”

“Shift! Batman! Wyldstyle! Cyan!” choked Batman. They went through the cyan portal to get to the non-gassed part. Wyldstyle found a grapple hook near the gas container and had Batman yank it. The neurotoxin disappeared, thank goodness, from the magenta section, where Touché, OOO, Mezool, Turretorg, Gamel, and I were. “Shift! Batman! Wyldstyle! Magenta!” said Batman as the neurotoxin started flooding Batman and Wyldstyle’s section. Wyldstyle found a turnstile which Turretorg and Gamel pushed to smash the second gas container.

“Stop it!” snapped GLaDOS. Gandalf, Kazari, Kōsei, Ichigō, Dr. Maki, Hunt, and Uva could breathe easily now. A third gas container popped up in their area with a valve.

“Allow me to handle this,” called Gandalf. He used his magic to turn the valve to the off position. The gas disappeared totally as GLaDOS removed the walls and brought them up into the ceiling. She came back down with Kamen Rider Rogue!

“Useless, the lot of you,” snarled Rogue. “I brought you back to life. I gave you the means to destroy our enemies! I even gave you sweets!” He pointed to Gamel at that comment. “Yet, you still disappoint me.” He then opened the front of the Rogue Driver, revealing the circuitry, and inserted a circuit board into the internals. He then shut the front panel as the belt altered to look like my belt, but with dark purple trim, instead of gold trim.

“Hiro, what have you done?!” I demanded.

“This?” asked the updated Rogue Driver. “I find that this new form offers certain…advantages, such as a single circle i.d tag and a Super Charge sequence for my host.”

“Speaking of which,” continued Rogue as he jumped down, crossing his arms downward as he planted his left foot forward and his right foot back. “Commencing beta test.” He circled his arms and raised his left foot, then planted it behind him, putting the right foot forward and crossing his arms above him. “Super Charge!” announced Rogue. He then grabbed his guns, pointed his left gun down and his right one up, and fired. The energy then bulked him up and gave his suit a black suit with dark purple trim. Where my helmet’s eyes were still blue, his were orange. He then tossed his guns into the air and drew out an axe like OOO. It was more metallic and looked less like a dinosaur. The guns then attached with the handles level with the barrels and the barrels pointing to the axe barrel. Two knife blades came out of the gun handles while a large purple sword blade came out of the top of the weapon. “The signature weapon of this new form,” explained the Super Charged Rogue as he held it in the air. “Forged from Shocker technology, Nova Shocker software, and the powers of the Dimensional Rift! Built with OOO’s Medagaburyu in mind for the design, I call it the Rift Breaker! You may now address me as Kamen Rider Proto-Rift! Stand and Deliver!”

“You…stole…from ME!” snarled OOO. “Need…Cell Medal!” Ankh tossed him one of his. OOO then put the Cell Medal into the axe blade and closed the mouth.

“GOKKUN!” (Gulp) roared the axe as OOO pulled down another handle, turning the axe into a bazooka. “PUTOTYRANNOHISSATSU!” sang the axe/bazooka hybrid. He pulled the trigger on the forward-facing handle. A ball of energy was released and ran towards Proto-Rift. Proto-Rift tossed Mezool and Uva in front, making OOO’s shot hit them, instead of him. They exploded in a shower of Medals, their cores cracking and shattering. They existed no more.

“MEZOOL!” cried Gamel. Dr. Maki turned to Proto-Rift.

“You promised us we would see the end of the Multiverse!” he boomed.

“I lied,” replied Proto-Rift. He then inserted his i.d tag into the blade and shut the mechanical mouth of his blade.

“Final Attack!” announced the weapon.

“Rider Rift Breaker,” hissed Proto-Rift. He made three consecutive slashes at the remaining Greeed and shattered their Cores, making them fall apart. I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“SUPER CHARGE!” I shouted. As I bulked up, I swung my sword at Proto-Rift, who blocked it. The resulting shockwave of energy knocked the onlookers of their feet. Energy flowed around us and…WOW, were we putting out some power!

“At last,” laughed Proto-Rift, “we take our rightful places as GODS! Wielding the very power of Hypertime, the very fabric of the multiverse!”

“I am a soldier,” I argued, “and YOU…are a prisoner of your own twisted delusions!” I sucker-punched him, knocking him off his feet. The energy dissipated, allowing the onlookers to get up. The room was damaged. GLaDOS had something to say, as always.

“If you insist on breaking my tests and facility,” she hissed, “then I am just going to have to remove them. I’m leaving you with nothing, trapped in here. Just me and you. Soon, you will beg to begin testing again.”

“If that’s how you want to play,” I replied. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” The rift crack was near a wall. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Locate help from 2-0-0-1-4-5-P-4-C-3-0-D-Y-5-5-3-Y!” I called. A rectangle with a single red light appeared.

“Hello,” said the thing in a calm, relaxed, reassuring male voice. “It’s very nice to meet you. Would you like a game of chess?” GLaDOS turned to see the thing.

“I have detected a rogue, corrupt A.I,” she snarled. “Where did you come from? Did Black Mesa send you? Go away.”

“I do not know,” replied the new A.I. “I was in space, and now I am here.”

“Well, you can’t stay here,” argued GLaDOS. “I’m in the middle of something. Go back to space.”

“Is Dave there?” asked the new A.I.

“Why did you bring HAL 9000 here?” hissed Hunt.

“I don’t know!” I replied. “I can’t choose the help I get!”

“Guys,” whispered Wyldstyle, “I see a Chroma design on the back of GLaDOS!”

“The Chroma discs are coming up!” observed Touché.

“Wyldstyle, quick! While she’s distracted!” I directed.

“Who is Dave?” quizzed GLaDOS to HAL. “I think Test subject 24051989 was once called Dave.”

“Are you Dave?” asked HAL.

“No,” replied GLaDOS. “I am a Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System. I would say it’s nice to meet you, but it’s not nice to lie.” While that was going on, Wyldstyle had gotten Ankh in red paint, Turretorg in yellow, and myself in blue. Turretorg first went to the circle, then joined Ankh in the left L shape, making that part orange. Ankh then joined me in the right L shape, making it purple.

“Lying is a human emotion,” argued HAL. Incorrect, it’s a human ACTION, not emotion. “There is no room for emotion in my calculations.”

“There’s no room for you in MY calculations,” snarled GLaDOS. “Now, go away!”

“I am sorry, Dave,” replied HAL. “I do not know how to do that as I do not know how I got here.”

“Stop calling me Dave!” protested GLaDOS. While that went on, the Chroma Lock revealed a chink in GLaDOS’ armor. Proto-Rift thought I would exploit that, which I would, and attacked me. I kept up with defense while Batman readied an explosive batarang.

“Your aggression,” soothed HAL, “is getting in the way of your mission. That could cause you to distort your collected information.” Batman then hurled the batarang. It exploded, causing some of GLaDOS’ armor to fall off. Ichigō, Hunt, and Touché leapt into the air

“RIDER KICK!” called Ichigō.

“RIDER HUNT KICK!” shouted Hunt.

“RIDER TOUCHÉ KICK!” announced Touché. All three kicks caused Damage to GLaDOS.

“Dismiss help!” I called.

“Hey!” protested GLaDOS. “That’s not fair! I was distracted! Go sit in the basement and think about what you’ve done!” The floor opened beneath us, dropping us into a room below her chamber. Wyldstyle’s scanner went crazy.

“The Foundation Element must be close!” she reported. She heard machinery. “Another test is being triggered! Careful!”

“I see it!” yelped Turretorg. That was when flame projectors came out of the walls, blocking our view of the cake. They started spewing fire. GLaDOS intended to cook us! Then, we heard the moron, Wheatley!

“I don’t believe it!” he cried. “You’re okay…apart from being in an oven. Anyway, prepare your impressed faces, strangers, because I, Wheatley, am here to hero this situation! Okay, hang on, gonna start hero-ing any second now. Lots of hero-ing coming up, stay tuned.” He then left us. We could still hear his annoying voice. “Okay, first issue: more than one button. Hmm, this one’s got a skull on it…so obviously a bluff! That will definitely turn the fire off.” Not true! “That wasn’t a bluff,” said Wheatley. “Just made the fire move closer. That’s a surprise. Okay, ummm, other button.” We heard machinery again, but not the flame projectors. “And I think my work here is done!” Wheatley left us!

“That’s it,” snapped Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of water, Ankh!”

“Need…Mezool’s Cores!” groaned OOO. Kōsei tossed him blue Core Medals. OOO replaced the purple Cores with the blue ones and scanned them.

“SHACHI! (Orca) UNAGI! (Eel) TAKO! (Octopus)” announced the scanner. As the animal symbols turned blue and marine-like, the suit went black while the helmet turned blue and carried white Orca patterns with yellow eyes. The arms gained eel looking whips connected to the shoulder pads, and the legs gained blue boots with octopus suckers on the outside. “Sha-Sha-Shauta! SHA-SHA-SHAUTA!” OOO then turned into water and helped Ankh douse the flames. Once doused, the flame throwers retracted, letting us view the cake. It had brown frosting, eight red berries in a circle, and a single candle in the center.

“That cake is mine!” roared Proto-Rift. I tripped him up and wrestled with him. My allies ran towards the cake. Touché looked back.

“Get the cake to Vorton!” I directed. “I’ll catch up!” And I intend to. While Proto-Rift and I fought, Batman got the cake off the table. We heard GLaDOS’ voice.

“Are you cooked yet?” she asked. “Say nothing for yes or ‘Argh! The pain! Why won’t the pain stop?!’ for no.” No one said anything. “Good,” droned GLaDOS. She lowered herself into the now switched off oven and looked around to find us. She first saw me and Proto-Rift locked in battle. “Oh, you’re alive. What a delightful surprise.”

“What else have you got?” asked Batman. The floor raised, bringing us up into GLaDOS’ chamber.

“If you’re not going to play by the rules,” hissed GLaDOS, “then there is no point in continuing the tests.”

“That giant oven was a test?!” wailed Wyldstyle.

“You, lady,” screeched Ankh, “are seriously twisted!”

“Yes, you failed,” replied GLaDOS. “But, there is one more thing I would like to conduct.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Hunt. “What’s that?”

“Electricity. Through you!” replied GLaDOS as she commanded several Tesla Coils to spring up. I tossed Hiro into one of them. As he fried, I called Vorton.

“X-PO, we have the cake!” I called. “Get us out of here!” As the coils moved closer, I got more scared. “X-PO!?!” I shouted.

“You know, you’re as bad as the Intelligence Dampening Core if you think this scares us!” taunted Touché. That did it.

“I AM NOTHING LIKE THAT MORON!” screeched GLaDOS.

“YES, YOU ARE!” roared Touché. “YOU’VE HAD WHEATLEY ATTACHED TO YOUR MAIN BODY FOR SO LONG THAT YOU BECAME AN IDIOT!” The portal opened beneath us. “BYE-BYE, YOU SPARK SHOWERING EXCUSE FOR MICROCIRCUITRY!” As we tumbled, the Tesla coils turned off, letting Proto-Rift off and allowing him to detransform. He roared to the heavens and got a ride back home.

“Why do they always leave me?” asked GLaDOS.


	25. Chapter 25

We arrived back on Vorton safely. Eiji, Kōsei, and Ankh were amazed at their new surroundings. “Oh, good!” cheered X-PO. “You guys got the cake!”

“Yeah, and we were almost toast, too!” hissed Batman.

“You cut that pretty close, X-PO,” snapped Wyldstyle.

“Couldn’t you have opened the rift sooner?” asked Touché as we cancelled our transformations.

“Is that the cake from _Portal_?” asked Richard. “You guys were in _Portal_? Man, I wish I had been there!”

“You really don’t, my dear brother,” argued Emily. “With Hiro gaining his own Super Charge sequence and with the main enemies of Eiji-san here, we had our work cut out for us.”

“Speaking of cutting,” muttered Gandalf as he eyed the cake. “Perhaps a slice of…” Tanisha took the cake out of Batman’s hands and held it above her head out of Gandalf’s reach.

“It’s not for eating!” growled Batman. I then looked around.

“Hey, where’s Hiroki?” I asked as X-PO took the cake. “I have another Rider for him to geek over.” Mikhail and Lukas came up.

“He, Tonje, Emmanuel, Michael, Sheela, Xiomara, and Irina went on an adventure with a new Doctor,” replied Mikhail. “They’ll be back soon. Something about a Dalek fleet over their native universe’s Earth.”

“Can we get something to eat?” asked Eiji. “That adventure wore me out.”

“The adventure, or Putotyra?” asked Ankh.

“Follow me,” I directed as I led the way to the cafeteria. When we showed off the cafeteria and demonstrated the replicators, Eiji, Ankh, and Kōsei got their food. Ankh seemed to be eating a lot of popsicles.

“Isn’t that a bit…unhealthy?” asked Emily.

“I don’t eat food in the sense that you humans do,” explained Ankh. “Heck, my senses are dulled. I can’t taste food, Colors are washed out, and sounds are distorted and muffled. The only time I experienced the full range of the five senses was when I possessed a detective.”

“The Greeed are voids that can’t be filled,” elaborated Eiji. “Thus, they want to turn the world into Cell Medals.”

“And…you’re working with him?” I asked.

“Let’s just say, he’s learned a thing or two,” chuckled Eiji.

“That reminds me,” mused Ankh as he drew a bag out of his body. “Kōsei, do you know anything about these?” The bag was full of studs!

“Not a clue,” admitted Kōsei.

“Those are studs, the local currency,” I explained

“There are 150,000 studs in that bag,” counted Vortoranii.

“You can have them,” muttered Ankh as he tossed the bag to me.

“That’s 980,000 studs!” Vortoranii said, then laughed like Count Von Count.

“Guys,” called X-PO, “I hate to sound needy, but, unless you want to miss this, Irina and the others came back and she needs medical attention!”

“What?!” yelped Emily. We made a mad dash for the med bay. Irina was hooked up to an IV and had an NG tube in her nose. Her pulse was low, but steady. Tonje, Hiroki, Emmanuel, Michael, Sheela, and Xiomara were there along with a woman with blonde hair reaching her neck and a coat with the hood down at the bed, running the medical equipment. The TARDIS was there as well.

“Emily! Good!” called the woman. “She was hit by a handheld, low yield, Dalek blaster. Davros seemed to have it on his person.”

“Where’s the Doctor?” asked Emily, going into full Medic mode. “I want the full story of what happened while I work.”

“Well, Doctor?” asked Michael to the woman. I goggled.

“The Doctor passed the torch to her?” I guessed.

“In a manner of speaking,” replied the woman.

“That IS the Doctor,” explained Michael. “I’ll explain later. Doctor, if you please.”

“Oh, come on,” argued the woman, the new Doctor, “surely you want to tell the story.”

“Oh, very well,” muttered Michael.

* * *

“CHARGE!” ordered my princess. As her team entered the rift, the rest of us started wondering what we should do.

“I don’t know about you, meine Freunde,” called Lukas, “but I’m going to go tune up the replicators.”

“I’m going to rest my back,” sighed Livia.

“Same here,” agreed Richard. That was when a familiar sound started playing.

“Anyone hear that?” asked Joshua.

“That’s the TARDIS!” called Mikhail.

“What’s he doing coming back here?!” I asked as the TARDIS materialized in the gateway room. The door opened and a woman poked her head out. She caught sight of me.

“AHA!” she cheered. “I need your help, Michael! Something’s going down around my universe’s Earth. Mind coming with?”

“Hold on, how do you know my name, Ma’am?” I asked.

“Never mind that,” dismissed the woman, “I’ll explain later. Just pick six others to come with us!” I was surprised but did so.

“Er, Tonje, Hiroki, Emmanuel, Irina, Sheela, and Xiomara, you want to see the TARDIS again?” I asked.

“Eh, why not?” mused Emmanuel. As the people I picked entered the TARDIS, I glanced around.

“Doctor?!” I called. No response. The woman then headed to the console. “Doctor?!” I called again. Still no reply. I tried a different approach. “Professor?!”

“Oh, come on,” replied the woman. “You’re making me nostalgic.”

“Ma’am, I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about!” I snapped.

“Oh, just put your hands on the telepathic circuits,” instructed the woman.

“Michael, who is this woman?!” asked Tonje.

“I don’t bloody know!” I yelled. It’s rare that I ever use bloody in that context. We all put a hand on the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits and reviewed the most memorable moments of the pilot.

“One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back,” faded to “They will persuade other Daleks to question. You will have a rebellion on your planet!” fading to “You exist only because your will insists that you exist. Your will is all that is left of you,” fading yet again to “You've no home planet, no influence, nothing! You're just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship!” fading again to “Well, a place where one embarks and disembarks from compartments on wheels drawn along these tracks by a steam engine; rarely on time,” fading to “But did you bother to tell anyone that they might be eating their own relatives?” with another man saying “Certainly not! That would have created what I believe is termed... ‘consumer resistance’,” fading to “I have pity for you!” and a Dalek counting fifteen and the man saying “Goodbye Davros. It hasn't been pleasant,” fading to “You want dominion over the living, yet all you do is kill!” fading again to “Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame. Whatever the cost,” fading once again to a woman saying, “If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?” and a man replying, “Lots of planets have a north!” fading to “Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones! 'Cos I'm a completely new man! I could bring down your government with a single word!” fading again to “Wrong with me? It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish. Fry something!” fading one last time to “You know you've got a lot in common with the Tivolians? You'll both do anything to survive. They'll surrender to anyone. You will hijack other peoples' souls and turn them into electro-magnetic projections. That will to endure… That refusal to ever cease. It's extraordinary. And it makes a fella think! Because, you know what? If all I have to do to survive is to tweak the future a bit, what's stopping me? Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah: the ripple effect. Maybe it will mean that the universe will be ruled by cats or something in the future. But the way I see it, even a ghastly future is better than no future at all! You robbed those people of their deaths; made them nothing more than a message in a bottle. You violated something more important than time: You bent the rules of life and death. So I am putting things straight! Here, now, this is where your story ends!” All of those quotes and an image forming in our minds slowly became clearer and clearer to show the woman, the Time Lord, that was piloting a type 40 TARDIS with a chameleon circuit stuck as a 1960’s London Police Box. We were dazed at the story that unfolded.

“So…the Doctor we’re familiar with…” muttered Emmanuel.

“Had many different faces…” finished Irina. I turned to the woman.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yep!” confirmed the woman.

“You’re him?!” I continued.

“That’s right!” grinned the woman.

“Even the blonde hair?” I asked.

“Yes!” said the woman, a little annoyed.

“You’re the…Thirteenth Doctor?” I asked.

“Yes!” repeated the woman, the Doctor. “You humans have a rather enormous capacity for repeating the facts!” The TARDIS then shook.

“Doctor, what’s going on?!” asked Sheela.

“Bit of temporal ripples!” explained the Doctor. “Someone, or something, is creating a rather large distortion in time about the size of Paris! It seems to be centered around Earth, my universe’s Earth.”

“So, who caused the distortion?” I asked. I did NOT like the response.

“Typical Daleks!” hissed the Doctor as her fingers danced around the console. “What IS their fascination with Earth? That’s MY fascination!”

“GOD…FLIPPING…WHHHYYYY?!” I shouted. “Couldn’t it be early model Mondasian Cybermen?! THEY knew how to be creepy!” The TARDIS rocked again. “Are they firing on us?!” I asked.

“I may need some help maneuvering the TARDIS,” called the Doctor. “Hiroki! Michael! Emmanuel! Sheela! Xiomara! Give me a hand!”

“We’re not Time Lords!” protested Hiroki.

“Put your hands on the telepathic circuits again,” directed the Doctor. “The TARDIS will fill you in on its operation.” Information about all the panels on the console filled our minds. It soon integrated with human limits and it became easy as pie!

“Oh, many a fan of your adventures would sell their souls just to have this kind of knowledge!” I cheered.

“Seems simple enough,” mused Sheela.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” asked Irina as we took our places, “stand here and look glamorous?”

“Well,” chuckled the Doctor, “you could always get us some tea. Maybe a bit of paperwork.” Tonje punched the Doctor in the shoulder. She and Irina then stormed up the stairs and headed into a hallway. “TONJE! IRINA! JOKE!” said the Doctor as she massaged her shoulder.

“They’ll be back when we’ve landed,” I assured. We then set to work on weaving the TARDIS through Dalek laser blasts and the saucers that said lasers came from.


	26. Chapter 26

Go ahead, play the _Doctor Who_ theme. Imagine your own intro sequence. Now, imagine the names “Jodie Whittaker, Michael Archer, Emmanuel Babineaux, Sheela Kumar, Irina Kuznetsov, Hiroki Hishikawa, Tonje Haugen, Xiomara Elizondo.” Now, imagine the title of the show. You can see it in bold, capital letters. _Doctor Who_! Now imagine Jodie Whittaker’s grinning face in the stars then fading into the episode’s title, “The Dalek Extermination of Earth!” before we cut to the interior of the Dalek Command Saucer. “Time capsule detected!” reported the Dalek running Scan-Ops.

“Battle computers estimate a ninety-seven percent chance that it is the Doctor!” read off the Dalek running the battle computer mainframe.

“Oh, I think we can up that to one-hundred percent,” replied a voice from the shadows. “However, I give you my word, this time, there’s a zero percent chance of the Doctor’s survival!” As the voice ranted, the TARDIS landed in an old station of the London Underground that had been exposed by bombing. Outside, the Daleks were squawking orders to the humans.

“Do not resist the will of the Daleks! All humans must present themselves for processing!” they bellowed. We all poked our heads outside.

“So, where and when is this?” asked Xiomara.

“London in the year 2055,” replied the Doctor, “or, at least, what’s left of it.” She sighed in annoyance. “Who else but the Daleks would cause so much destruction?”

“Well, no point staying down here,” I mused.

“Right,” agreed the Doctor. “We need to find a way up onto the street. I don’t want to be late for the surprise welcome party.”

“Oh, look,” observed Irina, “a locked door.” It was a shutter style door.

“Well, Doctor,” I jested, “these broken shutters are nothing your magic wand can’t handle.”

“You mean the Sonic Screwdriver?” asked the Doctor.

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to,” I dismissed.

“The Sonic Screwdriver is a tool of the Time Lords!” argued the Doctor in annoyance. “It is technological in operation, not mystical!”

“It’s a device that can perform a multitude of tasks with either the flick of a switch,” I countered, “or an incantation. It can function as a crude laser or unlock doors. That’s what a magic wand does.”

“Well, at the moment,” replied the Doctor as she pulled out the charred remains of a Sonic Screwdriver with the TARDIS at the end of it, “a Sontaran shot it. I haven’t gotten around to fixing it. Michael, be a dear and get the toolkit.” She then got a faraway look. “I really need to use it more often. I don’t know why I stopped.” She then pushed me into the TARDIS. “In any case, off you go!”

“Wait! But…!” I couldn’t complete my sentence as the door was shut on me. “I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE IT IS!” A beep from the console alerted me to a path being shown in yellow light. I figured out who made it as I grinned at the console. “Is there anything Time Lords can’t put into their time machines?” I asked rhetorically. The console then showed me a person in simple clothes on its view screen. “Yes,” I muttered, “humility isn’t a Gallifreyan’s strong suit.” I followed the path into a room built like a futuristic tool shed, complete with the TARDIS’ old roundels. “Not even the Doctor knows what the roundels are,” I muttered to myself. I grabbed the toolkit and returned outside. The toolkit apparently also has telepathic circuits as I knew what tools were inside and what their main functions were.

“Excellent!” cheered the Doctor. She knelt down at the door controls that she had opened up. “Now then, pen torch.”

“Pen torch,” I replied as I handed her the tool. It was a pen with a powerful torch at the end, or flashlight, if you’re from America. The Doctor pulled a small clamp arm out and attached it to the edge of the opening after she turned the torch end on. After adjusting the light, she could see what to do.

“Magnetic clamp,” she requested.

“Magnetic clamp,” I replied, handing her the tool. She put it across the internal workings to make a circuit.

“Astro-rectifier,” requested the Doctor.

“Astro-rectifier,” I confirmed. It was used to give temporary power to the circuit the magnetic clamp was making. The doors opened and the Doctor removed her tools. As I put them back, I started wondering to the Daleks’ purpose here.

“What do you suppose brought the Daleks here?” asked Irina, voicing my thoughts.

“I’m fairly sure that they didn’t get lost on their way to a plumbing convention,” mused Emmanuel.

“I never asked Davros why the manipulator arm looks like a plunger,” muttered the Doctor as we went up onto the street.

“Why ask Davros anything?” I asked. “He just wants to cause destruction.”

“But, a plunger?” quizzed the Doctor.

“Daleks are the masters of Earth! Daleks are the masters of Earth!” shrieked a Dalek. A saucer then blasted a large hole where a double-decker bus was resting.

“Daleks reign supreme!” called another Dalek.

“Alert!” screeched a third. “Vortex riders detected!”

“Right on cue,” quipped the Doctor. “Not so nice to see you again.”

“Time Lord genetics detected!” reported a Dalek.

“Confirm identity of Time Lord,” ordered a Black Dalek.

“I obey!” obliged the subordinate. A probe stuck itself into the Doctor and flew towards the Dalek.

“I already got vaccinated!” she protested.

“TARDIS located!” screamed a Dalek that traveled to the Underground.

“You don’t even have legs!” called Hiroki.

“They don’t need them,” I gulped. “Stairs may have been a problem for early model Daleks, but not these new ones.”

“Identity confirmed!” reported the Dalek that stuck the Doctor with a needle. “It IS the Doctor!”

“Exterminate!” ordered the Black Dalek.

“Drivers ready, everyone!” I directed. “Protect the Doctor!” We got our i.d tags out and readied ourselves.

“Henshin!” we all announced. We donned our familiar Rider suits and charged the ranks of the Daleks as the Doctor looked at a wall of blue light.

“A Dalek energy shield,” she muttered, “and heavily guarded too. There’s nothing getting past that in one piece. There must be a power source nearby. And chances are we’ll find a few more Daleks too.” As she looked around, we fought off the Daleks.

“Might want to add us to your ‘Ka Faraq Gatri’ files!” I quipped. “The Doctor’s getting lonely being your only arch-nemesis!”

“Ka what now?” asked Sengoku.

“It’s Dalek for ‘Oncoming Storm’!” I explained. I then stabbed a Dalek right between the manipulator arm and the gun stick. A bit of green dripped from my blade. I then turned it into rifle mode and fired on three more. As we fought, the Doctor found something. It was a console that had the same globes that are on the Daleks’ skirts.

“AHA!” she cheered. “What do we have here?”

“Dalek technology?” asked Swing.

“Unmistakably Dalek technology,” confirmed the Doctor. “And if my calculations are correct, and they are, then this is one of the power sources to that energy field.” She started fiddling with the electronics inside. The unit started shaking. “Take cover!” called the Doctor. Those of us that could fell on our fronts and covered our heads. The Daleks, regrettably, do not have a way to do so. I couldn’t see their deaths, but I could hear them. Judging by the boom and the following death rattles they made, I guessed that the shrapnel pierced their casings and killed the creatures inside. We got up and saw the grisly aftermath of those Daleks. They weren’t moving.

“Non-Dalek lifeforms detected!” screamed a Dalek’s voice. “Exterminate! Exterminate!”

“Stay calm!” called the Doctor. “More Daleks incoming! We need to get to safety!”

“Where in this time zone is safe?!” asked Arch.

“Especially now that a Special Weapons Dalek is coming!” I yelped.

“You’re right,” agreed the Doctor. “There’s nothing we can do here. The Daleks will have us surrounded. So, where to next? Let’s take a punt, shall we? Back to the TARDIS!”

“Problem,” replied Seeker, “the Daleks are surrounding the Underground entrance. That Special Weapons one is with them. If only Wyldstyle were here.”

“How easy you forget,” chuckled Climb as she drew out the Wyldstyle i.d tag. She swapped hers out for the new one.

“Wyldstyle Steel!” announced her belt. She got the Wyldstyle Steel on and used the Special Weapons Dalek and some street lamps to make a laser beam to slice through the Daleks and get back to the TARDIS. We got inside and started working the controls, this time with Arch and Sengoku standing to the side. The Doctor told them to head down to a room near the pool and retrieve a valuable asset. We landed in Central London again, but in a different time.

“2015,” sighed the Doctor. “A good year, or at least, it will be if we can find the next power source to break down the Dalek’s force field.”

“And you think that we can find it here?” asked Sengoku as he and Arch brought a robot in. It was shaped like a dog, was gray, and had its name on one side. It had a red visor with a probe that could be extended from the eye. It had a pair of radar dishes to look like dog ears and had a wire tail. It had a dog tag, a set of controls on its back, and a hook for someone to attach a lead (leash) on it. It looked quite battered.

“K-9!” I cheered. K-9 didn’t move.

“He’s had quite the tumble with some Sontarans,” explained the Doctor as she opened K-9 up. She fiddled with the electronics and muttered to herself. “Let’s see…can’t quite…ah, yes…need to align that…oops, almost forgot where arrow A points…and Bob’s your uncle! One fully operational tin dog!” She closed the dog and switched it on. As the eye glowed red, she went to the front, holding her hand out to sniff. The probe extended as K-9 gathered data on the hand, then the head tilted to see the face.

“Master?” quizzed K-9 as the probe retracted. The Doctor stroked her dog’s head, making the tail wag. “Last time I saw you,” said K-9, “was with Mistress Sarah.”

“This is the Mark IV K-9?” I asked.

“Yes,” confirmed the Doctor. “I picked him up after Sarah…passed.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I sympathized, remembering Sarah Jane Smith’s actress having a battle with cancer. She died in 2011. Then I remembered what the Doctor said earlier. “K-9, when were you around the Sontarans?” K-9’s response, apropos, given that he doesn’t know me and my friends, was to deploy his stun blaster from his snout.

“Negative! Negative! Negative!” barked K-9 as his ears rotated backwards. “Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Intruders are not welcome in the TARDIS!”

“K-9! HEEL!” ordered the Doctor.

“Master?” asked K-9.

“I picked these people up to help me with a Dalek problem in 2055,” explained the Doctor. “Now, recognize Michael, Emmanuel, Hiroki, Irina, Tonje, Sheela, and Xiomara: friends.” K-9 slowly retracted his blaster and extended his probe. We cancelled our transformations and held our hands out for him to scan. When he was finished, his tail wagged.

“All are now recognized as friends, Master,” reported K-9. “Correction; Mistress.”

“Calling me Master is fine,” assured the Doctor. “Now, shall we get moving?” We left the TARDIS with K-9 at the Doctor’s heels. We were in Central London. A tree was about to be planted, but the truck’s crew was on break. I then remembered something.

“Doctor,” I observed, “there was an area that would have had a tree in 2055. It would have easily been long enough for us to climb the bus and get to another part to find the energy field power source.”

“I think Richard and Emily would call it going halfway around your butt to get to your elbow,” muttered Irina.

“They used another word, but yes,” agreed Hiroki.

“That could be our best option,” mused the Doctor. “K-9, see if you can plant that tree.”

“At once, Master,” obliged K-9. He found a panel at the truck’s rear and extended his probe to interface with it. A claw arm on the truck then grabbed the tree and put it in the ground.

“OI!” called one of the crew members. The whole crew saw us. The Doctor drew out a wallet with a blank card, at least, blank to me. She presented it to the crew.

“I’m the Doctor, this here’s the relief crew your Foreman asked for,” she answered.

“You trying to be funny?!” snapped the man. “I’m the Foreman and this paper’s blank! I didn’t ask for a relief crew OR a doctor!” The card, called Psychic Paper, didn’t work.

“More clever than you gave him credit for, eh?” I muttered to the Doctor.

“Look, sir,” argued the Doctor, “planting this tree is VITAL to the survival of the human race. For, in the future, that tree could very well alter the course of human history, being a beacon of hope, showing every man, woman, and child that perseverance will ensure their survival and you’re not buying a single word I’m saying, are you?”

“What gave that away?” quizzed the Foreman. He was dialing a number on his mobile, the police, in all likelihood. Sadly, he couldn’t complete the call.

“Master! Hostiles, incoming! Danger!” warned K-9. We turned to the sky to see the Dalek fleet! We landed on the date the Daleks invaded Earth!

“All hail the Daleks!” called one of those pepperpots as it shot one of the crew. The Daleks were firing everywhere on the screaming masses.

“Time to go, I think!” yelped the Doctor. We turned to face a Dalek right behind us. Its eyestalk was a few centimeters from my face.

“All humans are to surren…!” it barked. The Dalek didn’t complete its sentence as I whacked it off with a knife hand chop. “MY VISION IS IMPAIRED! I CANNOT SEE!” We got out of the way of the gunstick as the Dalek fired wildly. We retreated into the TARDIS.

“Daleks conquer and destroy!” called another Dalek.

“I’d love to stay and reminisce,” muttered the Doctor as we gathered around the controls, this time with Xiomara and myself being left out, “but, you know how it is. Things to do, planets to save.” We took off and returned to Dalek controlled Central London in 2055. The tree we planted had indeed grown with branches long enough to get to the roof of the bus.

“Drivers ready!” I called. We got our i.d tags and struck our poses.

“Henshin!” we announced. After we donned our suits, we climbed up the tree and landed on the bus. Poor K-9 was almost left behind!

“I got him,” called Arch. He swapped out his i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” announced the belt. He then fired the grapple gun onto the latch for K-9’s lead.

“Master Arch, what aaaAAAUUGGH!” yelled the tin dog. K-9 was brought up rapidly onto the bus’s roof. He’s one that claims he has no emotional programming but judging by how his tail was stiffer than usual, I’d say Arch spooked the poor dog.

“Next time, just let poor K-9 use his hover generators,” moaned the Doctor as she reassured her dog.

“Intruders detected!” reported a Dalek. “Protect the energy shield!”

“Exterminate the Doctor!” ordered a Black Dalek.

“I obey!” obliged a third. After dispatching those Daleks, we had managed to get a lift truck to get us up to where we could see the generator, but the only ledge was on the second floor instead of the top floor.

“Let’s see, judging by the decay,” said the Doctor as she licked fingers after touching it, “I’d say it was completed in 1867. We just need to go a couple of years before and move the ledge up.” She then took out a whistle, blew into it, and the TARDIS appeared. “And the TARDIS whistle works just fine!” cheered the Doctor. We got back into the TARDIS and headed for 1865 Central London. This time, the Doctor decided to hang back with Claw. The landing was…bumpy, to say the least. As we staggered out, we cancelled our transformations again. Our shoes crunched against newly fallen snow. “Here we are,” whispered the Doctor, “Victorian London. The Gelth, Weng-Chiang, a giant dinosaur in the Thames, I’ve got a tale or two to tell from my time here.” She examined the snow. “It must be winter,” she observed. “Strange how quiet it is, and there’s a sinister look to the snow.” I then saw old friends of the Doctor.

“Hey! It’s the Paternoster gang!” I called. I approached the gates to try and introduce myself, but they shut on their own accord.

“Creepy old gates slamming shut of their own accord in the middle of the night,” muttered the Doctor. “Never a good sign.” We headed to an old crane, but part of it was frozen in ice.

“I think I can handle this,” called Hiroki. “Or, rather, with Wyldstyle’s help, I can. Henshin!” After the Henshin sequence, he activated Wyldstyle Steel and built a large flame thrower. After that, we moved the ledge to the top floor where it was needed. We were about to get into the TARDIS when we saw a shaggy, brownish, bear-like creature spraying the TARDIS with some sort of aerosol that made ice on contact. The thing was bipedal, had fearsome claws, and when it turned, we saw yellow eyes and teeth.

“A Yeti!” I exclaimed.

“Yeti?” asked Xiomara.

“What on Earth is the Great Intelligence up to now?” moaned the Doctor. That’s when the Yeti laughed. That surprised me, they usually roared.

“The Great Intelligence?” growled the Yeti. “That thing is nothing more than a Cosmic Annoyance. I’m a Yeti of Vortech’s design. The Mark IV Yeti, if you will.”

“That dolt’s interfering here?” I snapped.

“He intends to control this universe,” explained the Yeti. “After seizing the Foundation Element of this universe, a Dalek gunstick, he figured the best thing to do would be to get rid of you, Doctor. And, with the avatar of the true Gaia Memory in our possession,” Sengoku was surprised, “ah, I THOUGHT that remark would startle you, Kamen Rider Sengoku, the self-proclaimed Rider Encyclopedia. Yes, we have Philip. Shōtarō followed after him, but we lost him.”

“Henshin!” announced the rest of us.

“Careful!” warned Sengoku after we finished transforming. “If they have access to the true Gaia Memory, they may possess the power to make their own.”

“And a Gaia Memory looks like…?” I ventured. The Yeti then grabbed a USB flash drive and pressed a button near the plug. It was brown like the Yeti’s fur and had an illuminated Y on it.

“YETI!” announced the flash drive after the Yeti pressed the button.

“That’s a Gaia Memory,” explained Sengoku. “They carry the memories and powers of certain things, like the wind, or metal, or Yetis, in this case.”

“Amazing what one can build with Master Vortech’s abilities,” crowed the Yeti. He then pulled back a fur flap on his right arm and put the Gaia Memory in at a diagonal and then pushed it flush against his arm’s internal mechanics.

“YETI! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Gaia Memory.

“Yeti Freezer,” declared the Yeti as he got ready to swipe his claw. We raised our weapons to strike, but the Yeti swiped the air, making ice encase us. We froze on the spot. “I am hardly the only one in this city’s timeline with a Gaia Memory. Sengoku, you've probably heard of Kamen Rider Eternal. That Rider’s been essential in making the two Gaia Memories my master has in his possession. Speaking of which, Lord Vortech wouldn’t want you running around and ruining things, so I’ll just deal with you now. With you lot gone, the Vortex Riders are that much weaker and the Time Lord will finally die. Say goodbye, Doctor and Company.” He raised his claw to strike, but something interrupted him.

“SONTAR-HA!” it roared. Something tackled the Yeti and knocked him to the ground while a pair of women got us out of the ice. Being of a colder body temperature than humans, the Doctor recovered more quickly than us.

“Is everything quite all right?” asked one of the women, wearing a black veil.

“Apart from being frozen, Madame,” I shivered. “I think we’ll be okay. We’re not feeling sluggish, at least. The Doctor, even less so.”

“So, you know the Doctor?” asked the other woman. “Is he still in there?” She was pointing to the TARDIS.

“No,” corrected the Doctor, “SHE’S right here. Good to see you again, Madame Vastra, Jenny. I presume Strax is dealing with the Yeti?” The person that tackled the Yeti was then flung off. He picked himself up and grabbed a large club. He had a potato shaped head, reached up to my solar plexus, had three fingers, and a crazed expression.

“I’m going to enjoy eviscerating you, Sontaran!” roared the Yeti.

“Prepare to meet complete and utter dismantling at the hands of a Sontaran Warrior!” declared the creature, a Sontaran.

“Strax, return here at once and put that club down!” commanded Madame Vastra.

“But, Madame!” protested the Sontaran, Strax.

“Now!” ordered Vastra. Strax grudgingly put the club down and joined with Vastra and the other human.

“And the young woman with you is your wife, Ms. Jenny Flint, correct?” I asked.

“That’s…right…” stammered Jenny.

“Now that the Sontaran lap dog has returned to its master,” growled the Yeti, “the TARDIS key! I can’t have you returning to 2055!”

“I don’t think so!” snarled the Doctor.

“JOKER!” announced the voice of a Gaia Memory. We all looked around, Sengoku trying more feverishly to find the source of the voice.

“Henshin!” called a voice behind us.

“JOKER!” announced the mysterious Gaia Memory. A small orchestral hit played. We turned to see a Kamen Rider in black with purple trim, red eyes, rounded shoulder pads, and a long silver unibrow evoking the letter W. The belt he wore was red with a silver outer lining that held a black Gaia Memory with an illuminated J. The Memory Slot was tilted to look like an L resting on its point.

“Kamen Rider…Joker!” introduced the mysterious Rider as he flicked his left wrist to make a J with his thumb and pointer.

“YOU?!” roared the Yeti. “How did you find me?!”

“Nothing escapes a Hard-Boiled detective, Dopant,” declared Joker.

“Half-boiled, you mean!” argued the Yeti.

“That’s not a Dopant, Shōtarō-san,” replied Sengoku. “That’s a robot powered by a Gaia Memory with Kamen Rider Eternal’s help and Philip’s coercion.”

“Then, where’s Philip?” demanded Joker to the Yeti.

“Like I’d tell you!” roared the Yeti. He pressed his Gaia Memory’s button again.

“YETI!” announced the Yeti Memory. He then put it in his neck and swung it down. “YETI! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” Joker then took out his Gaia Memory and put it into a slot on his right leg. He then pressed a button on the slot.

“JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” called the Joker Memory. Energy gathered around his foot.

“Rider Kick!” announced Joker.

“YETI CRUNCHER!” shouted the Yeti as energy flowed around his teeth. As the Yeti charged with an open mouth, Joker leapt at the Yeti and delivered a powerful kick, shattering the Yeti’s teeth. “MY TEETH!” screamed the Yeti. The kick was still travelling as the ice around the TARDIS shattered.

“And we’ll be going back to 2055,” cheered the Doctor. “All of us, Paternoster Gang and new Rider included.” We got into the TARDIS and Joker started looking around.

“Welcome to the TARDIS,” I introduced. “Yes, it’s bigger on the inside and it can travel to any planet, any time. Now, please don’t gawk. We’re landing.”

“Couldn’t we take a breather?” asked Joker.

“Not likely, given that Daleks are surrounding the TARDIS,” I answered, looking at the screen. Sengoku explained what Daleks were as we got ready to fight. “Er, Ladies and Gentlemen,” I gulped. “The Daleks have a hostage and have recovered the Yeti. They seem to be with a Kamen Rider.” Joker looked into the screen when he heard me say “Kamen Rider”. This Rider had a white suit with a black cape, blue gloves in the style of flames, yellow eyes, and three prongs like a crown. He had a belt like Joker, but the Gaia Memory was white and had an illuminated E. He was holding a knife at the throat of someone in what I would call a fashion disaster outfit. A red Dalek with prongs around its neck and three dome lights instead of two was at the head of the group. This was a Dalek Supreme.

“Doctor, we know you are in there!” boomed the Supreme. “We are willing to cease the attack if you surrender yourself to us in exchange for Philip!” It was referring to the human the Kamen Rider was holding his knife to.

“Come now, Shōtarō,” declared the Rider, “surely a hard-boiled detective could understand the reality of the situation. Surrender the Doctor and we’ll stop attacking London.” After confirming the mysterious Kamen Rider’s identity, I pressed the external communicator.

“Eternal, surely you know about the Daleks,” I replied. “They’ll exterminate you on the spot once the Doctor steps out, as well as Philip.”

“Our leader has ordered them and their master not to do so,” called Kamen Rider Eternal. The Doctor took over negotiations.

“‘Their master’?” she said. “That was the phrase you used? The Daleks answer to no one, not even their creator.”

“Given that I saw him shout orders at a couple of these tin cans,” answered Eternal, “I’d say that claim is in dispute.”

“Davros barked orders and the Daleks said that they obey?” I muttered.

“Something seems wrong here,” mused Madame Vastra.

“Perhaps it’s a Dalek duplicate,” guessed Strax. The thought hadn’t occurred to me.

“Which one?” I asked. Multiple possibilities ran through my head.

“Their hostage, most likely,” figured Jenny.

“You have five seconds to obey!” demanded the Dalek Supreme.

“It could be a bluff,” guessed the Doctor. “It could be that they may strongarm Shōtarō or myself into obeying.”

“Four!” counted Eternal.

“Then again, why would the Daleks need Philip?” asked the Doctor. “Now that they’ve learned how to do so, they can make their own Gaia Memories without him.”

“Three!” counted the Dalek Supreme.

“Doctor!” I yelped, guessing her endgame.

“Two!” counted Eternal.

“Power down,” ordered the Doctor to all Riders. “I think we’d better do as they say.” As we powered down, I noticed Shōtarō’s civilian form was dressed in film noir detective clothes, complete with fedora, er, trilby, er, whatever. We headed for the doors.

“ONE!” counted the Dalek Supreme. We stepped out when it said that.

“Good afternoon!” greeted the Doctor.

“Doctor, you’re proving to be a thorn in our side,” hissed Eternal.

“Oh, no tea and chat?” asked the Doctor. “For someone who claims to be Eternal, you’re forgetting what makes eternity bearable. Tea, a good meal, a story, brilliant lights,” she seemed to be shooing one of us off in secret. Xiomara then got an idea and got to the lift truck. “You see, you surround yourself and poor Philip with the ultimate racists. The ultimate terrified people.”

“You imply that the Daleks know fear, Doctor,” argued the Supreme. “You are incorrect!”

“Oh, but you DO know fear,” countered the Doctor. “Where else does your hatred stem from? You fear anything that isn’t a ‘pure’ Dalek, the Dalek Civil War is a prime example. You would smash anything that Daleks didn’t make because the materials didn’t come from Skaro or any planet in your empire of ruin.”

“We’ve built an empire of purity!” shouted the Dalek Supreme. “The Daleks on those planets do not have to deal with other races! It was Davros who said so! When all other life-forms are suppressed, when the Daleks become the supreme beings of the universe, then there is true peace! There is no war in our empire, Doctor! We succeeded where the Time Lords have failed! Yet, you still dare to oppose us!”

“Yes, we do!” declared the Doctor as Philip surreptitiously went over to our side and handed Shōtarō a belt that looked like the driver he had mirrored itself, holding two Gaia Memories instead of one. “We dare to believe we can survive!” said the Doctor. “We hold the future in our hands! We dare to keep all of our dreams alive! It’s time we took a stand!”

“You can win if you dare!” I sang. Everyone turned to me in confusion. “The Doctor started it by quoting the _Transformers_ movie.” While that went on, Philip showed Shōtarō a green Gaia Memory with an illuminated C.

“What?!” yelped the Doctor. “No! I…okay, yes, but it was the good one!”

“Doctor, you waste our time!” bellowed the Dalek Supreme.

“Past tense!” jeered Xiomara. “She wasted your time!” She was holding the remains of the shield generator.

“Energy shield losing power!” reported a Dalek.

“Protect the final generator!” ordered the Supreme.

“Two down, one to go!” called the Doctor. “It appears that we still have work to do!”

“Exterminate!” screamed a Dalek as it fired. We dodged. We got ready to transform, Shōtarō put the new belt on and one just like it appeared on Philip’s waist. They pressed their Gaia Memory buttons.

“JOKER!” announced the Joker Memory.

“CYCLONE!” called the green one.

“Henshin!” we all shouted. Philip then put his Gaia Memory into the right slot of his belt. It transferred through data into Shōtarō’s belt as Philip fell asleep. Strax got him into the TARDIS as Shōtarō put the Joker Memory into the left slot and tilted both sides.

“CYCLONE! JOKER!” announced the belt. It started with a technical guitar to Joker’s orchestral hit. The suit looked like Joker’s but the was a silver band going down the middle with the right half green and sporting a silver cape.

“And Kamen Rider W (pronounced Double), the two-in-one Kamen Rider, is here!” said Sengoku. W spoke in both Philip and Shōtarō’s voices.

“Saa, omae no tsumi o kazoero!” they taunted. We then charged the ranks of the Daleks. The Doctor set to work trying to find the final generator with K-9. It didn’t take long to find it as Daleks came out of the wall near the house we altered.

“Destroy the TARDIS!” ordered a Dalek. Good plan, won’t work.

“More Daleks?” gulped Shōtarō’s voice from W.

“Stay alert!” called Philip’s voice from W. As Philip spoke, W’s right eye flashed. We kept the Daleks off the Doctor’s back while she and K-9 found an energy field guarding the path to the generator.

“K-9, if you please,” requested the Doctor. K-9’s blaster came out and shot the mechanism making the shield. “…I was expecting a little finesse, but I’ll take it.” K-9 drooped his head slightly. We then approached yard doors. On it was “I.M. Foreman. Scrap Merchant. 76, Totter’s Lane.”

“The scrap yard where it all started!” I declared. “Whizzing through time and space with Susan, Ian, and Barbara on the 22nd of November 1963!”

“The doors are locked,” muttered the Doctor, concerning herself with the present situation. “Back to 2015 it is!” She summoned the TARDIS and we piled in; Philip still sound asleep. I turned to Sengoku.

“Philip’s soul entered the Cyclone Memory,” he explained. “It’s how W gets the powers of the wind. Philip’s soul then entered Shōtarō to act as strategist.”

“And, their catchphrase?” I asked.

“‘Saa, omae no tsumi o kazoero’?” quizzed Sengoku. “It means ‘Now, count up your crimes’. Shōtarō’s mentor, Kamen Rider Skull, was the first one to say that.” The TARDIS then gave its landing noise.

“Here we are!” called the Doctor. She then fished something out of the toolkit. It turned out to be Missy’s Laser Screwdriver!

“I thought she abandoned that when she was the Prime Minister!” I yelped. “What are you doing, carrying that around?!”

“Swiped it from him before he died on the _Valiant_ ,” explained the Doctor.

“She? Him?” queried Seeker.

“Madame, Monsieur, who are you talking about?” asked Arch.

“An old acquaintance of the Doctor, with a higher degree in Cosmic Science while the Doctor barely scraped by with a 51% on the second attempt,” I explained.

“That is confidential!” snapped the Doctor. “Besides, I was a late developer! He underwent a sex change regeneration before me. She now calls herself Missy, but I still know her as the Master.” We stepped out of the TARDIS. The Doctor headed to the chain over the yard’s doors when we heard something familiar. “That’s a TARDIS arriving,” muttered the Doctor. “The new Type 90.” This TARDIS took the shape of a pillar box, Britain’s free-standing post box. The top opened to let a woman out. She was in the clothes of an early 20th century nanny, complete with a ridiculous hat. Her expression was not one I would personally expect on a nanny, this was cold and calculating.

“Oh dear,” sighed the woman in a Scottish accent. “Don’t go away, Doctor!” She had climbed out of her TARDIS and walked towards us. “My coordinates seemed to have slipped a tad,” mused the woman. “Still, not bad after a round trip to Gallifrey.”

“Speaking of the Master,” I hissed.

“Missy, if you must,” corrected the woman. “I do hope you can spare a moment of your time, Doctor, especially with Daleks on the way.”

“Sarcasm always was a weak point, even with you,” snarled the Doctor.

“May I say,” I interjected, “that that hat looks utterly ridiculous. I preferred the beard version of you. Anthony Ainley was a fantastic version of you.”

“I rather like this form,” countered Missy. “It allows me to travel incognito.”

“Maybe in the early 20th century,” argued the Doctor.

“Well, Time Lords need a sense of style,” said Missy softly, “some of us, anyway.”

“Now look, if you’re here to be rude...” hissed the Doctor.

“I came here to warn you,” interrupted Missy, “an old Time Lord acquaintance of ours is involved with the Daleks.”

“Old school chum?” I asked.

“Well, which is it? You? Rallon? Drax, Rassilon forbid?” quizzed the Doctor.

“I believe she was once called Ushas,” recalled Missy.

“You mean the Rani?” yelped the Doctor. “She’s a jackanape like you, causing nothing but trouble!”

“She has something called the ‘Eternal Memory’ in her possession,” reported Missy.

“You mean it’s a woman as Kamen Rider Eternal?!” exclaimed W.

“A Time Lady, no less,” continued Missy. “She’ll certainly try to kill you, Doctor. The High Council thought you should be made aware of her.”

“How very kind,” snarked the Doctor. Missy tensed up in irritation.

“You are an incorrigible meddler, Doctor!” she hissed. “Still, the Council believes your hearts are in the right places. Now, be careful, will you? The Rani’s learned a new trick or two with the Eternal Memory.”

“I refuse to be worried by someone as cold and typically Arcalian as the Rani!” rebuffed the Doctor. “She’s an unimaginative plodder, like yourself!”

“Her degree in neurochemistry was higher than my own in cosmic science, loath though I am to admit it,” answered Missy.

“Yes, well, she was put in a house that values study,” conceded the Doctor.

“I do suppose you’re right in her being unimaginative,” continued Missy. “She stole my little ‘surprise’ from when I first came to Earth.”

“Oh?” asked the Doctor.

“Examine the chain around the doors,” instructed Missy. As the Doctor moved to do so, she was stopped by Missy’s umbrella. “However, be careful.” The Doctor pushed the umbrella aside. She then felt on the door around the chain and felt something off when her hand was at the seam of the door. She followed it all the way to the top and then felt around the chain in that area. I’d say a special invisible string was being used.

“A volatizer?” guessed the Doctor. Missy nodded. “Oh, grief!” said the Doctor. “If it should fall, it’ll explode, taking the scrap yard, surrounding buildings, and people with it. She’s most likely rigged it up so opening the door or cutting the chain will make it fall.”

“Well, I hope Missy has a witty way of dealing with it, since it was her original idea!” I demanded. Missy had vanished. I heard her TARDIS going away. “COME BACK!” I shouted. Too late.

“Good luck!” called Missy’s voice.

“Never mind her,” called the Doctor. “I have a plan.” She carefully pulled the string upwards, slowly, I might add, until we could see a black cylinder with a drum on top, the volatizer, I believe. “All right, someone fetch the magnetic clamp.”

“I got it,” I responded as I went into the TARDIS. I grabbed the clamp and then headed outside to hand it to the Doctor. She used one end of the clamp to get a grip on the volatizer and get it over the doors without falling. At that point, a Dalek saucer flew overhead.

“You will obey the Daleks!” barked a Dalek.

“I’ve just about had enough,” snarled Swing. She took the volatizer off the clamp.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU CRAZY VIKING?!” I yelled. She turned to the ship.

“This is a Time Lord explosive!” Swing shouted. “I hope my clumsy human fingers don’t do something clumsy!” She then tossed it at the saucer! “Oops! You guys handle it!” After the saucer exploded, she turned to me. “What was that about me being a crazy Viking?”

“Er, nothing, just rambling!” I said quickly.

“Thought so,” muttered Swing. While that went on, the Doctor, W, Sengoku, and Claw made a ramp from the scrap.

“Alright, back to the TARDIS!” called the Doctor when they were finished. We piled in and returned to 2055, hacking through Daleks who were confused about the ramp that mysteriously appeared. “All right, I should be able to get to the last generator from here,” remarked the Doctor as she climbed the scrap. We stopped by a control panel before the Doctor said “Oh, blast!”

“What’s the matter?” asked Claw.

“A Dalek and Eternal are guarding it,” replied the Doctor. “I can use this device to override the Dalek’s controls system, but I need someone to take care of Eternal.”

“We took care of Eternal once,” called W. “We can do so again. This ‘Rani’ is inexperienced in terms of the Gaia Memories.”

“Get to it, then!” encouraged the Doctor. W took off as the Doctor started messing with the controls.

“SYSTEM MALFUNCTION!” yelped the Dalek. “HELP ME!” Eternal was confused.

“Lady, you’re making a mistake, siding with evil” called W. Eternal turned to see W pull out new Gaia Memories. One was red with an illuminated H and the other was silver with an illuminated M. He pressed the buttons.

“HEAT!” announced the red one.

“METAL!” called the grey one. He then swapped out the Cyclone and Joker Memories for the new ones, Heat in the right slot and Metal in the left.

“HEAT! METAL!” announced the belt. A bit of rock music played followed by a metallic synth as the right side went red and the left side went silver. A long staff appeared with a red grip looking like a W.

“Let’s go, Time Lady!” challenged W. Eternal cocked her head. “We had a run-in with an old acquaintance of the Doctor. Apparently, she was male once, and called herself the Master. Calls herself Missy nowadays.” Eternal gripped her knife.

“So,” she hissed, “that jackanape decided to interfere! I don’t when or HOW she regenerated since HE used up his and was in the habit of borrowing bodies!”

“Let’s just say,” I replied, “a certain war changed that. You, of all people, should be familiar with the Great Time War.”

“I am, and I didn’t participate,” answered Eternal. “The last Dalek I fought was the cause of my first regeneration. I liked that body!”

“So, the incidents with Loyhargil and sleep deprived humans were your favorites?” I asked. That got her. She started throwing punches while W was dodging and swinging his staff. I jumped in with my sword and went on the attack. We traded blows for a while, but, W and I had to end it. W pulled the Metal Memory out and put it into the staff.

“METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Memory. Fire started coming out of both ends of the staff.

“Metal Branding!” called W in both Shōtarō and Philip’s voices. I inserted my i.d tag into my sword.

“Final Attack!” announced my weapon.

“RIDER BATTLE SLASH!” I called as I swung my sword at a diagonal while W swung the staff and unleashed a torrent of flames. Eternal sparked before the belt she used spat out the Gaia Memory she was using. The suit disappeared to reveal a woman in ginger hair and goth clothes with a knee-length skirt and a lab coat. Her emerald eyes were burning into my soul as her black lipstick adorned lips parted in a snarl. She turned to the Dalek that the Doctor hacked into.

“It looks like my work is done anyways,” hissed the Rani. “See you later.” She stepped into a rusty boiler and closed the lid. Judging by the noise and its fading away, I figured out that it was the Rani’s TARDIS. When it faded completely, the Dalek screamed.

“The coast is clear!” called the Doctor. “Time to shut down the energy shield and put an end to this!” The Dalek then fired on the generator before exploding. We heard a noise like machinery winding down. “And that’s our cue!” guessed the Doctor. We made our way back to where the shield was and found a dais with a control panel on board.

“A Dalek Transmat!” I breathed.

“Last time I saw this model was during that whole mess with the Hand of Omega,” mused the Doctor. She managed to get it working. We all got out of our suits and Philip came out of the TARDIS. “Shall we?” invited the Doctor. We used the Transmat to beam ourselves upwards onto a Dalek ship. I just hope there aren’t any Daleks where we beam into.


	27. Chapter 27

After the titles play again, a brief replay of the scene where we transmat up to the ship will remind us what happened. Dalek Transmats are unpleasant feeling, let me tell you right now. After that unpleasant trip, we all got out to make sure there weren’t any of those stupid pepperpots. We secured all the area needed. Madame Vastra, Strax, and I secured a northern corridor. Xiomara, Emmanuel, Hiroki, and Philip secured an eastern corridor. Jenny, Shōtarō, K-9, and Tonje secured a western corridor, and Irina and Sheela secured a southern corridor. It was awkward silence time, even with the steady noise of the ship. I never knew what made that noise around Dalek facilities and ships. “That rhythm is starting to annoy me to no end!” hissed Strax.

“Save it,” I hissed back.

“Silence, girl!” snarled the Sontaran. That’s the disadvantage of being a clone race, like the Sontarans, you can’t tell the difference between genders. Back to the awkward silence. The Doctor was at work with a console in the junction we were securing.

“So,” I mused, “just making idle conversation here, I’m a tad bored, Commander Strax, if we were enemies and you, of course, beat me in battle as a Sontaran soldier, what would you do?”

“Well,” answered Strax, “given that you haven’t made any attempts to make an enemy of me, I find that situation unlikely. However, in a strictly hypothetical situation, of course, I would most likely submit you to each of the processes on Field Major Styre’s manual on human resistance to torture.”

“Styre?” I yelped, remembering the episode he starred and subsequently died in. “I didn’t realize he published.”

“Posthumously,” Strax explained. Madame Vastra shook her head.

“Brutes,” she muttered. “Michael, if you’re so bored, maybe you should find out what the Doctor’s doing?” I saw the irritation in the Silurian’s eyes.

“I…see your point,” I gulped. I headed over to the Doctor. I know, some men will call me a wimp. Tell me, would YOU argue with a lizard woman from the age of the dinosaurs you knew had eaten humans before? No? Didn’t think so. I leaned over the Doctor’s shoulder and cleared my throat.

“Tea time already, Strax?” asked the Doctor, not even looking in my direction.

“Okay, I’m a lot taller than him, for one,” I said, annoyed.

“Yes, but you have the potential to be brutish as him,” remarked the Doctor.

“Not true!” I argued.

“So, you’ve had no wars?” countered the Doctor.

“As ever, Doctor, the soul of tact!” I replied. “What are you doing, anyways?”

“Just figuring things out, as usual,” answered the Doctor.

“Anything I can do?” I asked.

“Not on this end, no,” muttered the Doctor. “I, on the other hand, just need to find the temporal origin of this ship…ah, got you!”

“You have answers?!” I asked. “Where and when did this ship come from?!” The Doctor didn’t answer, she just pulled out a laser spanner and messed with the transmat!

“And then one more pick-up before I shut this off for good!” she called.

“Doctor?! Answers?!” I asked. The Doctor said nothing as she and I shoved some plungers out of the way as they shimmered into view. Wait, plungers?

“Unauthorized computer access detected!” said the harsh, grating, metallic tones of the plunger’s owner. The Daleks had bypassed the guard positions we had set up by transmatting in their own ship! We were quickly surrounded.

“What?!” yelped the Doctor. “I wasn’t doing anything!” The transmat started smoking. “That was like that when I got here!” Xiomara and her group were herded aside to make way for someone I didn’t want to see. The horribly scarred remains of a man glided their way past. The person used a black Dalek skirt with white sensor globes to move, had a black shirt with only his right arm to his name, a control panel in front of him, sunken in, fried shut eyes with a single blue orb in his forehead to see, a metal cage around his scalp, silver shoulder pads, and a back rest. His hand was robotic in origin, one he most likely built himself after someone shot it off. He cracked a blackened smile as he clapped his robot eye on the Doctor.

“You might have a new face, Doctor,” he remarked in a voice that had was aided by a cybernetic voice box, “but I see you are still the same old prattling fool!”

“Davros,” hissed the Doctor. “Not so much a bad penny as a mad penny.”

“Oh, great, I meet the lunatic behind the existence of these dust bins,” I groaned. “I knew the Rani said you were involved, giving orders, but I didn’t think it was as part of the invasion force.”

“What have you done with the population of the Earth?” asked the Doctor.

“I have…given them new employment,” answered Davros as he turned to the Daleks. A horrible thought struck the Doctor.

“The Daleks!” she gasped. “They’re…?”

“Yes, Doctor,” chuckled Davros. “Your precious humans.”

“Necros and Satellite Five!” I called.

“Yes, making Daleks from human genetic material is hardly a good idea,” supplied the Doctor. “For a start, they may be driven mad by their own flesh and gain a concept of blasphemy. For another, it may spark another civil war.”

“Blasphemy?” asked a Dalek. “I have no understanding of the word! It is not registered in my vocabulary bank!” That made me arch an eyebrow.

“My mistakes on Necros and the mistakes made by the Emperor on Satellite Five have been corrected,” continued Davros. “Many qualities needed for Daleks are buried in all manner of life. What better way to unleash those qualities than to make Daleks? Silurians are cold hearted, Humans are divisive, and Sontarans are war-like; most excellent qualities.” He turned to the Daleks. “Confine them to the holding cells!” He glided away. “Whilst I reformat a Dalek production line to accept a Time Lord body.” The Daleks led us to our holding cells, even going so far as to put us in separate cells. That would tear Vastra and Jenny apart and the Daleks knew it.

“I know, I know,” sighed the Doctor as she came to her cell. “I’ll make myself at home, shall I?”

“Enter!” barked one of the Daleks.

“By the way,” snarked the Doctor as she did so, “I’d like a wakeup call at seven and two soft boiled eggs for breakfast.” Laser fields activated over the openings. “And plenty of butter on the soldiers!” called the Doctor as the Daleks trundled away. Well, most of them, one took the bait.

“Why would you need butter on soldiers like the Daleks?” it asked.

“Oh, please tell me Davros didn’t delete toast soldiers during your mutation!” I wailed.

“Not mutation!” argued the Dalek. “Purification! And the soldiers of toast shall be exterminated!” It trundled away.

“Not before the Sontarans destroy them first!” called Strax. I rolled my eyes.

“Daleks,” sighed the Doctor. “So predictable.”

“Madame,” I called to Vastra, “there is such a thing as toast in your time, right?”

“There is,” interjected the Doctor before Vastra could get a word in, “but the electric toaster hadn’t been invented yet.” She fiddled with some wires and deactivated the energy shields of our cells. She then blew on her new TARDIS whistle with said vehicle appearing. “And now that we know when and where this ship came from,” continued the Doctor, “we can stop this travesty before it happens.”

“You may know, but WE don’t!” called Philip.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” promised the Doctor as she opened the TARDIS. “Do cultivate a sense of urgency.” We entered the TARDIS and got to the controls. Philip, Shōtarō, Jenny, Vastra, myself, Hiroki, and Irina hung back while the rest worked the controls. Strax was clearly enjoying helping pilot the TARDIS.

“Doctor, it is a privilege to pilot this magnificent device with you to go to battle against an enemy such as the Daleks!” cheered the Sontaran nurse.

“Well, if things go well,” muttered the Doctor, “we should be arriving at their ancestral seat any second now.”

“Ancestral…” I began, then an unanswered question was answered. “SKARO?! We’re going to the Dalek home world?!”

“If things go right,” replied the Doctor. “And so far, nothing can go wro…” she didn’t get to complete that sentence as the TARDIS shook violently. “I NEED TO STOP SAYING THAT!”

“WHAT’S GOING ON?!” yelled Irina.

“TIME SCOOP!” shouted the Doctor.

“Not the Death Zone!” I wailed.

“No!” answered the Doctor. “Somewhere else!” We landed roughly. The scanner wasn’t working. “Drat,” hissed the Doctor. “We’ll have to poke around.” We stepped outside onto…what…? “It can’t be!” breathed the Doctor. “This isn’t possible!”

“We landed in the one place the Doctor shouldn’t have gone to, Trenzalore!” I whispered.

“Why?” asked Sheela.

“See that giant version of the TARDIS’s exterior?” explained the Doctor. There it stood, taller than Burj Khalifa. “Well, that is the TARDIS, but in the future. The interior dimensions are bleeding into the exterior in this time. Inside there is the late Doctor, may I rest in peace.”

“That’s your tomb?!” gulped Tonje.

“Yes, and I shouldn’t be here,” answered the Doctor. She saw a ledge. “This way,” she directed. We climbed the ledge. “Something tells me the answer to all this lies ahead inside the TARDIS.” As we traveled, we saw some Weeping angels, but they seemed scared, as if they were running from the Doctor’s tomb.

“Something doesn’t add up,” I muttered. “Trenzalore’s future was altered when the Time Lords gave you a new regeneration cycle. Why is this still here?”

“I can’t see that far ahead in my time stream,” answered the Doctor. That was when we heard footsteps. We turned to find ourselves surrounded by beasts. They were stocky humanoids, had the snout of a boar, four eyes, one on each side of the head, starting from the face, two sets of large ears, one over the other, clawed hands, and vestigial wing flaps around the arms. They had sharp teeth in a snarl.

“Tetraps?!” I yelped. “How did the Rani con these people again?!”

“I see you haven’t looked closely at these Tetraps,” called a voice. The Rani stepped from behind the rocks in front of the Tetraps. “I had traveled to Mondas to get the schematics for the earliest Cybermen and applied them to these Tetraps.” I looked closer to see some shiny parts under the fur. “Beautiful slaves, aren’t they?”

“You say that as if you expect a round of applause,” hissed the Doctor.

“Have a care, Doctor,” warned the Rani, “you are not here to play the clown!”

“Was it you that used the Time Scoop that brought us here?” asked Sheela.

“And it is here that I shall make my greatest experiment,” answered the Rani.

“Well, I apologize for the inconvenience,” quipped the Doctor, “not to mention my curiosity.”

“What do you want to know?” asked the Rani.

“What you’re doing in my future gravesite for a start,” replied the Doctor.

“I simply needed a good site for my newest experiment,” remarked the Rani.

“Would this experiment have anything to do with me?” asked Philip.

“It DID require you,” said the Rani.

“Did?” quizzed Shōtarō. “What made you stop using Philip?”

“I gathered the necessary data from the Daleks,” explained the Rani.

“Then, why are you making Gaia Memories?” asked the Doctor.

“My own needs,” finished the Rani. I was starting to get a little peeved.

“I don’t know as I like the cryptic remarks you’re giving here,” I snarled.

“Fine, I’ll explain,” sighed the Rani as she opened a gate. “Gaia Memories hold more than the powers and memories of things; they also hold the experiences of different species.” She held up a bluish-green Gaia Memory with an illuminated H. She then pressed the button.

“HUMAN!” announced the Memory.

“Is that why you fought us?” asked Emmanuel. “To gather data?”

“Not exactly,” answered the Rani. “I came to gather a species’ time stream.”

“I don’t follow,” admitted the Doctor. The Rani pulled out a white Gaia Memory with nothing on it.

“This is a blank Gaia Memory,” lectured the Rani. “When I install it into my TARDIS, I can read the memories of any species of my choosing. The only limit, however, is the Time Lords. For some odd reason, I can’t just plug this into my TARDIS and read my own species time line. My theory is that because we’re not supposed to know our futures, that limit carried over. So, I did something no TARDIS ever did, and went to Gallifrey’s future, where we’re nothing more than time streams littering our planet.”

“You’re insane! Gallifrey’s time locked! No one’s ever done that!” shouted the Doctor.

“Well, I did,” argued the Rani. “Now, of course, I’m familiar with the laws of time, so I told no one when I came back. It’s going to happen eventually, so why resist it? Before I came back, I stuck this blank Gaia Memory into the time streams of every Time Lord that will go extinct on Gallifrey. After that tedious trial, I discovered that not all Time Lords will die there. So, I travelled to other Time Lord’s tombs throughout the universe, even my own. The last one I visited was the Master’s tomb.”

“Does that Time Lord die as male or female?” I asked. “Just curious.”

“Spoilers,” interjected the Doctor, bringing up the memory of her wife, River Song. “In any event, you’ve proven your power to make Gaia Memories, but I can’t help there’s something a great deal more to visiting tombs and breaking the laws of time.”

“Really now?” asked the Rani.

“What are you doing making Gaia Memories like Davros with his Daleks?” asked the Doctor. “And what do you intend to do with them?”

“Tarsek, get over here!” barked the Rani. A Cyber-Tetrap lumbered forward and pulled out some equipment. “So far, I have 25 Gaia Memories, bar the Time Lord one. With this and the Zone Gaia Memory, I will initiate the Never-Ending Hell Maximum Drive with the Gaia Memories I created.”

“The Zone Gaia Memory?!” yelped Philip.

“You plan to conquer this universe?” called Shōtarō.

“Hardly,” scoffed the Rani. “Using the Maximum Drive, I intend to slice through the Time Vortex, undoing it and making it nothing more than a mass of energy.”

“A dimensional manipulator!” realized the Doctor. “You intend to turn our universe into a dimensional manipulator!”

“While you escape in your TARDIS!” I snarled.

“I shall be back, once the turbulence has subsided,” answered the Rani.

“But how will that work out for you in the long run?” asked Sheela.

“Because I intend to make my own universe,” replied the Rani. “That’s why I used the time scoop, to get to your tomb, Doctor.”

“You know of my habit of having companions,” quizzed the Doctor. “Why are these people involved?”

“Workers are required in my new universe,” answered the Rani.

“You have the Cyber-Tetraps,” I pointed out.

“And Vortech can give you minions,” continued Xiomara.

“The Cyber-Tetraps are needed for my military police,” dismissed the Rani, “and Vortech had his usefulness fulfilled.”

“I see,” realized the Doctor. “Turning this universe into a dimensional manipulator will make the Foundation Element lose power, forever frustrating Vortech’s plans. This whole thing was a means to an end for you.”

“Now that you understand the experiment,” declared the Rani, “I need access to your tomb.”

“I don’t think so!” snarled the Doctor.

“Drivers ready!” I called.

“JOKER! CYCLONE!” announced Philip and Shotaro’s respective Gaia Memories.

“Henshin!” we called.

“CYCLONE! JOKER!” shouted the W Driver. All riders were in their suits with Phillip safely out of harm’s way.

“I’m hardly scared,” taunted the Rani as she pulled out her belt and strapped it on. She then pulled out the Eternal Memory and pressed the button.

“ETERNAL!” it called. She then put it into the Memory slot.

“Henshin,” she announced and tilted the Memory slot.

“ETERNAL!” repeated the Memory. Her suit formed and Kamen Rider Eternal stood there.

“We keep the Rani out of the Doctor’s tomb at all costs!” I commanded. The Doctor managed to get in to reinforce her…er…casket if you will. With the Cyber-Tetraps pushing us back, Eternal strode towards the tomb. W did a last-ditch maneuver by pulling out the Joker Memory and putting it in the Maximum Drive slot.

“JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Memory.

“Joker Extreme!” called W in both Shōtarō and Phillip’s voice. W then leapt into the air and extended both of his feet. He then split in half! First the Joker half struck her, then the Cyclone half. The two halves reunited, thank goodness, and I prepared my attack. I inserted my i.d tag into my blade and converted it to rifle mode.

“Final attack!” yelled my weapon.

“RIDER BATTLE BLAST!” I shouted. The shot hit the ground, ending in a large explosion. I chuckled. “No way is she getting up from that,” I boasted. The smoke cleared. The Cyber-Tetraps were lying dead, but Eternal still stood. She charged after the Doctor! “STOP HER!” I yelled. She entered the tomb! I got in to see Eternal toss the Doctor aside and smash the console open. The rest had caught up.

“What is that?!” called Sengoku as he pointed to a mass of blinding white light in the shape of many strings huddled together.

“That’s the Doctor’s time stream,” I explained. “All Time Lords break down to become their time streams. Leaving bodies behind is passé to them.” Eternal then jabbed the incomplete Gaia Memory into the Doctor’s time stream. She then pressed the button, causing the Doctor to clutch her head in pain. Eternal then extracted the Gaia Memory as it changed colors. It was as red as the planet Gallifrey and had an illuminated T. Eternal did a test and pressed the button.

“TIME LORD!” announced the Memory.

“Finally!” giggled Eternal. “Now I can begin!” She fled to the top of the tomb and pulled out another Gaia Memory. It had an illuminated Z on it. She pressed the button and put it in one of her Maximum Drive slots.

“ZONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” called the Gaia Memory. That was when other Gaia Memories flew into the other Maximum Drive slots and went from A to Z.

“AUTON! BORAD! CYBERMAN! DALEK! ETERNAL! FENDAHL! GRASKE! HUMAN! ISOLUS! JAGRAFESS! KRYNOID! LAKERTYAN! MALMOOTH! NOTHING! OMNIPOTENCE! PLASMAVORE! QUEEN! REAPER! SONTARAN! TIME LORD! USURIAN! VOGON! WEEPING ANGEL! YETI! ZONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Gaia Memories. Eternal then drew her knife as power flowed through her. We made it outside and saw her prepare her blade.

“This is it!” called Eternal. “NEVER-ENDING…!” She didn’t complete her sentence as something knocked the knife out of her hand. The object then flew over Philip’s body and converted him into data, sucking him up into itself!

“Don’t be alarmed!” assured Sengoku. “We’re about to see W use the Xtreme Memory!”

“The what?!” I asked.

“A bird-like Gaia Memory directly connected to the True Gaia Memory!” explained Sengoku. W then closed his belt, allowing a rather bulky, metallic bird to slide over the Cyclone and Joker Memories. The middle band started glowing as the belt opened again with the bird split in half, revealing a small turbine with an illuminated X.

“XTREME!” announced the belt. A small whirring noise, like a fan belt, was heard, followed by a small piece of epic orchestra. W then started pulling on the silver band dividing him and pulled it apart to reveal a white, crystalline middle section. The unibrow disappeared and in its place were X protrusions on each side of the head. He gained a set of shoulder pauldrons in the shape of sideways W’s. A sword and shield then appeared in his hand.

“What in the…?” yelled Eternal. W then grabbed the Heat, Joker, and Cyclone Memories, and two new ones, one was yellow with an illuminated L, the other was green with an illuminated P. He then put the Cyclone, Heat, yellow, and Joker Memories into the shield, then put the green one into the sword hilt. The weapon then spoke.

“CYCLONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE! HEAT! MAXIMUM DRIVE! LUNA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! PRISM! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the weapon. If I were to go on the letters, I’d say Luna was the yellow Memory and Prism was the green one. W then drew the sword out with colors flowing around it. He tossed the shield in the air and jumped, landing on the spinning shield and flying towards Eternal.

“BICKER CHARGE BREAK!” called W in both voices. When he reached Eternal, W swung the sword at her, the energy causing a lot of her Gaia Memories to shatter. The only ones that survived were Yeti, Dalek, and Eternal. Speaking of, Kamen Rider Eternal couldn’t handle the exploding Gaia Memories and keep her balance near the edge of the tomb’s roof, and so she fell.

“Saa, jigoku o tanoshimu!” called Sengoku. Eternal’s suit had disappeared, revealing the Rani as she started glowing yellow. “What the?!” gulped Sengoku as we cancelled our transformations.

“Time Lords have a way of cheating death,” explained the Doctor. “Whenever an old body gets frail or is too badly damaged, our DNA rewrites itself and our cells rearrange themselves to make a new body. The side effect is that our personalities can change as well.” The Rani stood up to glare at us, then she stumbled to a small mausoleum. She fumbled for a key, leading me to believe the mausoleum was the Rani’s TARDIS. Before she put the key in the lock, her regenerative energy exploded as her face and body morphed. She grew a few inches, her chin and nose were pointed, her hair pulled back to reach her shoulders in a 50’s bob and it darkened to brown. The light died so we could see her pale skin and emerald eyes, piercing into our soul.

“I only had that body for fifty years!” she snarled in an Irish accent. “Do you have any notion what you’ve done?!”

“Stopped you from making a dimensional manipulator out of this universe?” asked the Doctor with a smirk.

“Sarcasm will get you nowhere, Doctor!” snarled the new Rani. She scuttled into her TARDIS and fled Trenzalore.

“You know,” mused the Doctor, “for once, I agree with the Rani. How about we leave this beastly place?” We were all in agreement. We still had to get to Skaro to stop the Dalek invasion. The Doctor piloted the TARDIS herself this time, muttering something about humans making the TARDIS jumpy, so I got a translation from what Hiroki said after the Rani fell. “Saa, jigoku o tanoshimu,” means “Now, enjoy Hell,” a perversion on W’s catchphrase. The TARDIS landed in an observation tower on a planet with sand everywhere, red skies, and no plant life to speak of. The buildings were metallic in nature.

“So, we’ve made it?” I asked.

“Daleks conquer and destroy!” screeched a voice I’m familiar with.

“Skaro,” replied the Doctor, “home of the Daleks. It looks like they’ve been busy too. Last time I was here, this place was in ruins.”

“After the sewers revolted?” I asked.

“You mean the sewers of Skaro are revolting?” asked Emmanuel, trying to understand the grammar I used. I shook my head, confusing the poor man.

“The Dalek word for sewer is the same as the word for graveyard,” I explained. “The creatures inside the tanks are genetically hardwired to live, no matter the condition. But, even they’re not immune to aging. Overtime, the creature breaks down, rots, decays, liquefies.”

“And so, the still fresh Daleks rip the old ones out of their casings and drop them into a sewer?” guessed Xiomara. She shuddered when I nodded. “Remind me never to consult them for retirement plans.”

“We need to get down,” I observed.

“Right!” called the Doctor. She grabbed a Dalek arm from a broken casing. “This Dalek manipulator arm should be compatible with that control switch.” K-9 moved to speak. “No, it’s not a plunger, before you ask!”

“Master!” warned K-9. “Daleks are patrolling on the ground below us!”

“And watchtowers are scanning for intruders,” I continued.

“Stealth is key, then,” remarked the Doctor. We managed to slip past the watch tower and found ourselves at the edge of a green river. There were stepping stones across the way. “Watch your step,” warned the Doctor as she tested one out. “I don’t fancy taking a dip in a pool of toxic Dalek waste.” As we crossed the river of radiation, we noticed a control panel that was allowing toxic waste to fall across our path. “Step aside,” called the Doctor. She found the pipe flow controls and redirected the waste into a gaggle of Daleks down below, allowing us passage. “A simple case of reversing the polarity,” chuckled the Doctor. “Even a pudding brain could’ve handled that.” We noticed that the path had laser walls that switched on and off at different intervals, so we timed our way through the walls. We made our way to the lift, but a black Dalek was guarding it. We stayed out of sight.

“If only we could bluff Daleks,” I muttered.

“What about the old hacking method?” asked the Doctor as she got to work on a control panel. The Dalek then started spinning.

“DIZZY! DIZZY!” it yelled. It then exploded, clearing the way for us.

“Going up!” called Irina. We climbed onto the lift and went up. On the roof of the building was a machine that had a Dalek skirt with a big globe on top. There were no weapons to speak of and a grey hexagonal eye in the center. The globe opened to reveal Davros.

“Welcome to my new empire, Doctor,” he announced. “It is fitting that you should be the first to fall to the power of the Daleks!”

“Drivers ready!” I called. Shōtarō and Philip brought out their Gaia Memories. Philip then went a safe distance away from any Daleks that will inevitably surround us.

“JOKER! CYCLONE!” said the two Gaia Memories.

“Henshin!” we all called.

“CYCLONE! JOKER!” announced the W Driver

“Kamen Rider Sengoku!” began Sengoku, “You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“Kamen Rider W! Saa, omae no tsumi o kazoero!” The Doctor had a bit of trouble coming up with a catchphrase.

“Er…I am the Doctor, the healer of time and space!” …Awkward silence. “Er, anyways, nice to see you again, Davros. Surely, you must be running out of escape pods by now?” That was when a TARDIS materialized in the shape of some Dalek equipment. The Rani stepped out in a new outfit, simple pants, a simple shirt, and a lab coat. She brought the Daleks with her.

“GET THEM!” she roared.

“All hail Davros!” called a Dalek.

“I’ve got something up my sleeves, but I need cover!” yelped the Doctor.

“Everyone, we protect the Doctor at all costs!” I declared. We started fighting the Daleks before the Rani joined the fray.

“ETERNAL!” announced her Gaia Memory.

“Henshin!” she called as she put the Memory into her belt and activated it.

“ETERNAL!” said the Memory as her suit formed. She drew her knife and attacked me! I kept blocking with my sword.

“Come now, ma’am,” I taunted. “Surely you don’t want your childhood destroyed!”

“Irrelevant!” replied Eternal. “You ruined the greatest experiment ever!”

“You were going to turn your universe into a dimensional manipulator!” I argued. “You would take the Doctor’s place as the last of the Time Lords! That was Hell, even for a wanderer like the Doctor!”

“Unlike the Doctor, I could have lived with it!” hissed Eternal.

“Forgive me if I’m skeptic!” I replied. Davros continued monologuing!

“After all this time,” called the lunatic, “finally, my Daleks will take their rightful place!” The Doctor made a pylon powering Davros’ throne explode, making him jolt. “You will not be so fortunate next time!” promised Davros. “Attack them, my Daleks!”

“They’re trying to do so!” taunted Strax. “Let me say, they’re hardly the best examples of warriors.”

“You say that as if this is war!” laughed Seeker. “Señor Strax, this isn’t war, this is sport!”

“Of course, the conquistador would say that!” I joked.

“I’ll get you later for that, Michael!” said Seeker hotly, as she converted her blade into rifle mode. She then put her i.d tag into the rifle.

“Do not anger me!” warned Davros. “You are a pathetic insect against my Dalek creations!”

“Final attack!” announced Seeker’s weapon.

“RIDER SEEKER BLAST!” called Seeker. She then shot another pylon, making Davros quiver again.

“Stop that!” he roared. Eternal put her Gaia Memory into the knife.

“I should have done this when I fought W,” she muttered.

“ETERNAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Memory. W started going into spasms as he went grey.

“Eternal Requiem,” called Eternal as she brought the blade down on W. The Gaia Memories flew out and W’s transformation was cancelled. Philip woke up and got Shōtarō out of danger. That was when a pale gray, mechanical velociraptor jumped into Philip’s hands. Shōtarō smirked.

“Reckless, as always, I see,” he mused as he pressed the button on the Joker Memory.

“JOKER!” called the Memory. Philip did some fancy folding on the raptor to reveal that the tail held a Gaia Memory with an illuminated F.

“FANG!” announced the Memory.

“Henshin!” called the two men. This time, Shōtarō put the Joker Memory in first and passed out. It appeared in the left-hand slot of Philip’s belt as he put the Fang Memory into the right-hand slot and tilted it. The rest of the Fang Memory became a raptor head with a horn on the snout as the W Driver opened.

“FANG! JOKER!” announced the Driver. The suit was a little different to say the least. It was white on the right half with the Joker colors on the left. It was a little spikier than the original.

“Time to go for the finisher!” snarled W. He pressed the horn three times.

“FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the W Driver

“Fang Streiser!” called W as he performed a flying roundhouse kick, which projected the head of the Fang Memory biting down on Eternal and the pylon she was in front of. The Eternal Memory flew out of the belt before shattering completely, cancelling the Rani’s transformation. The pylon blew up, making Davros jolt again.

“A foolish error on your behalf!” boasted Davros. “Daleks, EXTERMINATE!” The Daleks fired. “This will be my ultimate victory!” ranted their creator. “You cannot stop it!” He then noticed something. “Wait, where’s the Doctor?!”

“Oh, don’t mind me!” called the Doctor. She was fiddling with a control panel.

“NO!” shouted Davros. “YOU HAVE CONFOUNDED ME FOR THE LAST TIME!! I WILL DESTROY YOU AND THE MISERABLE, INSIGNIFICANT PLANET THAT IS EARTH!”

“I think you said that a while ago,” I observed. We kept the Daleks busy. “Doctor, what are you up to?” I asked.

“A little messing around,” explained the Doctor. An image of her face popped up on the screen.

“What are you doing?!” shouted Davros. “CEASE AT ONCE!! THE DALEKS ARE MEANT TO OBEY ME! THEY! WILL! OBEY! ME!”

“For future reference,” called the Doctor as she finished, the image on the screen changing to that of Davros, “it’s a really bad idea to route all your targeting software through a single computer node!” The Daleks then started shaking as if they were resisting movements but couldn’t.

“Weapons targeting is being overridden!” reported a Dalek. “I cannot control! I cannot control!” The Daleks started haphazardly firing on Davros and the Rani!

“Oh no, I’m not wasting this regeneration!” yelped the Rani. She scuttled into her TARDIS and fled.

“No! Stop! I AM YOUR CREATOR!” shouted Davros.

“We cannot override the Doctor’s commands!” screamed a Dalek.

“CURSE YOU, DOCTOR!” shouted Davros.

“That’s the first time he ever said that specific phrase,” I observed. There was a massive explosion in the sky as Davros started going up.

“And that’ll be your fleet exploding, Davros,” revealed the Doctor. We turned on our heels, after the Doctor blew on her TARDIS whistle. “I hope you’re well insured. See you next time, Davros.”

“DALEK!” announced a Gaia Memory voice. As the TARDIS reappeared, we turned to see Davros put a Gaia Memory into a Dalek gun from his chair. “DALEK! MAXIMUM DRIVE!”

“DALEK EXTERMINATION!” roared Davros. A single blue bolt of light flew towards us. We got out of the way…well…all but Kamen Rider Climb. She was hit by the blast.

“IRINA!” I shouted. The rest is a blur, your Highness, but we put her in stasis for the trip here.


	28. Chapter 28

“Thankfully,” the Doctor said as Michael finished, “we put Irina in the Zero Room, where one floats in air to fix themselves or stabilizes one’s condition. That Dalek Gaia Memory wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as a Dalek’s gun.” I ran my hands over my face.

“Okay, I have good news and bad news,” reported Emily as she finished. “Good news, Irina’s alive and is demonstrating brainwave activity. Bad news, brainwave activity isn’t evidence of consciousness. Rather, it’s an endless dream from which she may never wake.”

“What can we do?” I asked.

“The only thing we can do is keep calling to her,” replied the Doctor.

“The only logical choice for starting the process, given Irina’s relationship with him,” I mused, “is Mikhail. Mikhail, could you…Mikhail? Mikhail, where are you?!”

“Hey, where’d Michael go?!” asked Ankh.

“Don’t forget Richard, he’s gone too,” observed Batman. A thought struck me.

“You don’t think…?” I quizzed.

“It’s possible,” theorized Batman

“Hey, guys,” called X-PO, “I’m hearing some chatter from Michael, Mikhail, Richard, Rusty, Elphaba, Wyldstyle, and Eiji in the gateway room. The phrase ‘Make Davros hurt’ was thrown around. Any reason leap to mind?”

“Those idiots!” I hissed.

* * *

I stood at the gateway. My sister, Irina, was in a coma. Anger was directing my actions, anger that I feel is justified. “You seek revenge!” said a harsh, grating, metallic tone.

“Da,” (yes) I replied. Rusty glided to my side.

“On just Davros?” asked the Dalek. I turned to face him.

“You’re not stopping me?” I asked.

“I wish to help you!” replied Rusty.

“Ah, anything to make the Daleks hurt,” I guessed.

“Why just the Daleks?” asked an American voice. I turned to see Michael and Richard coming.

“Not this time, you two,” I directed.

“Your sister was hurt under my recent command,” argued Michael. “Honor must be satisfied.”

“And you helped me when Emily was beaten black and blue by one of her bullies that wanted her to commit suicide,” continued Richard. “I would be ashamed if I didn’t help.”

“What’s this I hear about getting revenge?” asked a woman. Elphaba came in. She had regained her ability to fly on a broomstick. “Trying to make this Davros character pay? Wasn’t he acting under orders?”

“It’s within Vortech’s sick mind to make us hurt,” hissed another voice. Wyldstyle came up with Eiji.

“You all wish to assist?” I asked.

“You need an attacker from the sky,” replied Elphaba.

“My Master Build abilities are handy,” offered Wyldstyle.

“And I’ve got a Combo that can take care of any cheaters,” replied Eiji.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Set dimensional coordinates for Skaro!”

“No!” barked Rusty.

“No?!” I roared.

“Blindly rushing into Dalek territory,” explained Rusty, “is self-extermination! We must draw Davros out!”

“And to do so,” supplied Elphaba, “we need to make Vortech hurt. To do that, we need to hit where it hurts most, his wallet!

“Go on,” I invited.

“Vortech has set up Nonexistium mines in Rusty’s native universe,” answered Elphaba. “We strike at a big one and tell Vortech to send Davros our way at the next one.” I mulled it over. On the one hand, I wanted to make Davros pay quickly, but, on the other hand, blindly rushing at the Daleks will ensure my death. The cons of rushing at the Daleks outweighed the pros.

“Like I said, set dimensional coordinates for a big mining operation in Davros’ universe,” I said.

“I obey!” replied Rusty.

* * *

“How is this POSSIBLE!!!” roared Vortech. “Four missions, all in D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0, and only Igura succeeded in hers when she got the Foundation Element! You, Rani, nearly affected my plans with that dimensional manipulator nonsense! The universes you would have made would have faded in 2 hours anyway. Believe me, I tried that before getting the Foundation Elements. You, Yeti, perhaps it was a mistake to sever you from the Great Intelligence if the Gaia Memory is too complex for your processors!” Vortech turned to me. “So? I didn’t hear your excuse, Davros!”

“Because I have none,” I replied. “We failed to destroy the Doctor, nothing more.”

“Then why do you smile?!” snarled Vortech.

“I have news that may…interest you,” I answered.

“Speak quickly,” hissed Vortech.

“I took the liberty of testing the Maximum Drive of the Dalek Gaia Memory the Rani had so graciously created,” I explained.

“You don’t have a Maximum Drive slot,” observed Vortech.

“You don’t need a belt to initiate a Maximum Drive,” I answered. “I fashioned a weapon from a Dalek gun to allow it to use a Gaia Memory and decided my escape was a perfect test.”

“You…used the Dalek Maximum Drive?” guessed Vortech. I turned to one of the prisoners, a Mr. Sergei Kuznetsov.

“Do you know the true name of Kamen Rider Climb?” I asked him.

“My daughter, Irina,” answered the man. A thought struck him. “No. You didn’t!”

“I call the Dalek Gaia Memory’s Maximum Drive Dalek Extermination!” I laughed.

“You are bluffing!!” protested Sergei.

“I never bluff when one has died at my hand,” I answered.

“Then perhaps this day is not totally lost,” mused Vortech.

“If we can be so sure,” growled Sauron as he stomped into view. “It HAS been a while since any of us have killed one of the Vortex Riders.”

“Because it has been a while since a DALEK was provided the opportunity to do so,” I reminded.

“Really now?” snarled Sauron. “Because the mutants under my command during my time in the DC Comics world were utterly useless!”

“You dare call the Daleks mutants!” barked one of my children.

“My creations have enslaved entire worlds, Sauron,” I recalled, “while you sent your pathetic Orc forces after a simple ring!”

“You must be lying!” denied Sergei. “There’s no proof Irina is dead!”

“If it’s proof you want,” I chucked, “I am all too happy to provide.” I let a holographic projector do its work. Horror had spread across his features. “Word of advice, a scientist is always willing to give proof!”

“THAT’S MY DAUGHTER!” roared Sergei. “DAVROS, I WILL KILL YOU!”

“You are welcome to try!” I countered as I charged my hand with electricity.

“Enough!” shouted Vortech as he threw up a barrier between us. “Davros, are you certain that Kamen Rider Climb was exterminated?

“With this very Gaia Memory, Lord Vortech,” I replied as I pressed the button.

“DALEK!” it announced.

* * *

“Is everyone ready?” I asked.

“For Irina!” cheered Michael.

“For the Multiverse!” called Wyldstyle.

“For making Davros pay!” shrieked Rusty.

“For paying off old debts,” declared Richard.

“For a new chance at life!” called Elphaba.

“For my friends!” cheered Eiji.

“For honor!” I called. “POYEKHALI!” (Go!). We charged into the portal and fell through the vortex.

“You Riders might want to change before we arrive at the mine,” suggested Wyldstyle

“Good thinking,” I replied. Eiji put in his Medals and the rest of us drew our i.d tags. Eiji told us how his transformation abilities work, so I knew what was going on when he scanned his Medals.

“HENSHIN!” we announced.

“TAKA! TORA! BATTA! Tatoba! Tatoba, TATOBA!” sang Eiji’s OOO Driver. The rift opened to let us into a mine. The coordinates were set to the Cybermen’s home world of Mondas. What we saw was a sight I never thought was possible, but, given that Vortech has a hand in this, he may need the cooperation between the Daleks and Cybermen. Both species were working together to mine for Nonexistium. The mines were large enough but had special machinery that regenerated the metal once it was exhausted.

“Quite a bit of Daleks and Cybermen,” muttered Battle.

“How do we deal with them?” I asked.

“Set off minor explosions in random areas,” suggested Battle. “Get all enemy forces to investigate. Clear out any enemies near a communications console. Contact Foundation Prime to draw out Davros. After stating our demands, blow the place sky high and move on to the mines on Skaro.”

“Khorosho,” (Good) I declared. “Find explosives and spread out.”

* * *

“It’s a pity she was wearing her mask,” I said to my children as we went down the hall in Vortech’s fortress. “But, I can only imagine the terror she felt as she fell to the technology you, my children, have made. Lord Vortech now understands that the difficult tasks are best assigned to the Daleks.” We passed by a couple of Tarlaxians, Discornia and a creature made of purplish putty with red eyes and a vaguely humanoid form called Sludgiona.

“Hell spawn,” muttered Ms. Sludgiona in a burbling voice.

“Impure mutants!” snarled Discornia. Now, Hell spawn, I can let slide, but calling my Daleks impure mutants…! We turned to face them.

“What did you say?!” I growled.

* * *

I must say, the Rani is the worst lab partner ever. We were fixing up the Yeti Vortech had acquired and she was griping all the time. “Fixing things up was so much easier when Urak was around!” she moaned

“Spare me!” I hissed as I adjusted the jaw. It was then I heard Dalek gunfire. The Rani and Yeti heard it too.

“What is going on out there?!” demanded the Yeti. It got up and stepped out of the room. “How are these ladies supposed to…!” It didn’t get far as a Dalek blast shot his jaw. It goggled at the broken implement. “I JUST HAD THAT FIXED!” it roared, pulling out its Gaia Memory.

“YETI!” announced the Memory.

* * *

We had set up the explosives in the mine and acquired hiding places so the enemy wouldn’t see us. Battle told us to wait until the Daleks and Cybermen had concentrated their forces at the explosive sites. Thank goodness Wyldstyle can Master Build explosives. “Not yet,” motioned Battle. “Wait. …NOW!” We pressed the detonator that Wyldstyle built and the explosives went off.

“ALERT! ALERT! EXPLOSIVES DETECTED IN MINE!” screamed a Dalek.

“Moving to delete hostile elements!” reported a Cyber-Leader.

“Seek! Locate! Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!” ordered a Black Dalek. The enemy started investigating while a single Dalek and Cyberman guarded the communications terminal. These two were…different from the rest of their species. The Cyberman looked like he was in a silver bodysuit that simulated piping woven into it, had a chest piece with exposed wiring, a helmet with larger handle supports around the ears, a see-through mouth plate, and totally circular eye holes instead of the tear-drop design. The Dalek was gunmetal grey with black sensor globes, possessed tiny dome lights instead of the large ones I was used to, and a white light in the eyestalk with a black dot in the center, making the eye look like it had a pupil.

“Those are a Dalek and Cyberman from the 80’s!” whispered Battle. “What are they doing still in operation?”

“Sshh!” I hissed. “They’re about to speak. I want to hear them.”

“Cyber-unit L-4-R-R-Y,” droned the Dalek.

“Yes, Dalek T-1-N-4?” asked the Cyberman.

“Cyber-unit Larry?” asked Guard.

“Dalek Tina?!” snickered Battle.

“SSSHHH!!” I hissed.

“Do you wonder why we’re here?” asked Dalek Tina.

“I suppose that is one of the universe’s greatest mysteries,” mused Cyber-unit Larry. “Why are any of us here? Are we some cosmic coincidence or is there really a god with a plan for us? That kind of thinking keeps me from fully recharging.” There was a brief silence.

“No,” elaborated Tina. “I meant, why are we here guarding a communications terminal instead of investigating the explosions?”

“Oh,” replied Larry.

“What was that stuff about God?” asked Tina.

“Nothing,” answered Larry. I motioned for us to move.

“If you wish to find out about God’s existence,” I announced as I drew my blade, “I am all too happy to help in that regard. If you wish to live, move aside. I’ve come for Davros. Stand down and be spared.”

“ALERT!! ALERT!! INTRUDERS IN THE COMMUNICATIONS CAVERN!!” screamed Tina. She didn’t get very far as I ran her through with my sword. Larry then grabbed a silver tube with a red cylinder on it and trained it on us. Battle then opened a small bag and threw the contents onto Larry’s chest. It was gold dust and the instant it landed on him, Larry started sparking and giving off a death rattle. He fell, dead. I ran my fingers over the dust and examined it.

“A Cyberman killed by glitter? That’s ridiculous!” I declared.

“Not when it’s an early model Cyberman,” elaborated Battle. “The glitter’s made of actual gold.”

“You mean to tell me you turned gold into glitter in case you meet this kind of Cyberman?” I asked.

“Exactly,” replied Battle. “Coat the chest unit of these early model Cybermen in gold and you suffocate them.”

“I see,” I muttered. I then returned my focus to the mission. “Wyldstyle, take Guard with you and build a bomb big enough to level this place. OOO, Rusty, keep watch for the enemy. Elphaba, clear an escape route for us. Battle, help me open a line to Foundation Prime.”

* * *

“Just look what they’ve done!” snarled Igura as she stormed up to me in her Kamen Rider Talon persona.

“Spare me the dramatics,” I dismissed. “The Yeti’s jaw can be fixed.”

“This isn’t about the Yeti or me, Lord Vortech!” protested Talon. “The Daleks are creating dissension among the ranks! These savages are a threat to our plans! They should be confined! RESTRAINED EVEN!”

“I said that about you when your group came here,” muttered Ambassador Hell.

“Besides, you could not produce restraints strong enough to hold a Dalek!” boasted Davros.

“Loooord Vortech,” droned a Cyberman. This one was in a zip-up bodysuit, had a large front unit with wires and piping everywhere on the body, a cloth mask with eyeholes and a lantern on top of the head where the handles connect. As it spoke in a stilted monotone with some words drawn out and the others run through rapidly, the mouth opened but made no movements to form the syllables, “weee have recieeeved an eeemergency transmission frooom theeee Nonexistium mines ooooon Mooondas.”

“What seems to be the trouble?” I asked as I gave a glance to a broken Sergei.

“Uuunnknown, Lord Vortech,” reported the Cyberman. “Theee caller will speeeak only tooo you.” I accepted the call.

“T-1-N-4, L-4-R-R-Y, what is it?” I asked, assuming that it was the Dalek or Cyberman at their post. The voice with the Russian accent surprised me.

“Nice operation you have here,” snarled the caller. “Sadly, it is under new management.”

“Mikhail?” asked Sergei, sadly, knowing that Irina’s death affected his son as well.

“Kamen Rider Gallop,” I guessed. “The Rider that fancies himself a Cossack.”

“I have a bit of Cossack training,” answered Gallop. “My horseback skills are unmatched. However, like Irina, I fancy myself a swashbuckling pirate. Speaking of pirates, with the help of my team, of course, I just robbed you of one of your big, juicy mining operations.”

“The loss of ONE asset is hardly a blow to my cause,” I dismissed.

“Perhaps,” threatened Gallop. “But, I shall keep attacking them one by one until you give me what I want!”

“And WHAT, pray, is that?” I asked.

“The demon that put my twin sister in a coma!” declared Gallop. Wait, what?

“Coma?” I repeated.

“Mikhail, are you saying Irina lives?!” asked Sergei excitedly.

“Da, Papa,” replied Gallop.

“You are a liar!” hissed Davros.

“Davros,” called another voice. “Not so nice to hear you again.”

“Kamen Rider Battle, you saw Climb fall!” snapped Davros, correctly identifying the voice.

“We got her into the TARDIS and discovered that the Maximum Drive of your Dalek Gaia Memory gave off a low yield blast,” explained Battle. “Thanks to the Doctor’s efforts and to the efforts of our medic, Irina’s alive.”

“KHOROSHO!” shouted Sergei, his pain of having to bury his daughter now gone.

“So,” continued Gallop, “here is the deal. We’re going to hit the Nonexistium mine on Skaro. If you would care to meet us there, Davros, perhaps you can save Vortech from another loss. Oh, and Vortech, just in case you ever wondered what an exploding mine of Nonexistium sounds like…” He left the channel open as he pressed the button on a detonator.

* * *

“Escape ship primed and ready!” reported Rusty as he flew it to us. I snatched up some studs, 245,000 in total, and put them in a bag. Might as well make some profit. We jumped aboard as the bomb started shaking. We sped through the caverns before the bomb blew up. The explosion started catching up to us. We escaped…what’s the expression…by the skin of our teeth. The entrance collapsed as Rusty flew us to Skaro.

* * *

To say that Vortech was livid would be an understatement. As the transmission ended in static. Vortech strode angrily towards Davros. I smirked under my helmet. “Keep away!” yelped Davros.

“You’re hardly in a position to order anyone around,” hissed Vortech. He swatted Davros’ hand aside and pressed a button. The chair started beeping and lights turned off. Davros was trembling violently until he pressed the button again. He started getting his breath back. “You allowed Kamen Rider Climb TO LIVE!!” roared Vortech.

“Daleks,” chuckled Sergei with a fat grin on his fat face. “Not, er, up to snuff, I believe is the expression. Isn’t that right, Talon?”

“You, shut up,” I ordered.

“Lord Vortech,” begged Davros, “I swear upon the Daleks, Irina could not have survived her wounds!”

“Well, the evidence says otherwise!!” roared Vortech. “It appears I am owed a Vortex Rider’s life. And if it’s not Irina’s, it had better be Mikhail’s!”

* * *

“Approaching Skaro!” reported Rusty. Battle was not exaggerating when he said Skaro was one of the worst planets to look at. It was blood red, had three moons, sickeningly green clouds, and two major continents divided by a mountain range.

“We’re being hailed,” called Battle.

“Tell the Daleks that we’ve come for Davros,” I rumbled.

“Funny,” continued Battle, “it IS Davros on the other end. He said that he’s ordered an escort to bring us to the mine near the Petrified Jungle.”

“A hasty trap that we shall spring,” I declared. “Tell him we’ll follow the escort on the path they chose.” Michael did as he was told and we followed the Dalek Escort to a stone-like jungle. Nearby was a tall city. The mines were about a mile to the city’s south. We landed near the entrance to see Davros and a horde of Daleks surrounding us. Michael described him perfectly on Vorton. “I see you were busy after Michael came here last,” I observed.

“Whereas YOU have been stupid enough to seek revenge!” ranted Davros.

“Prerogative of a brother when his sibling is harmed,” I replied.

“Speaking of visits,” recalled Battle, “I would have figured, after your sewers attacked, you would have drowned in the corpses of your children.”

“Not when there is an escape pod to be had,” answered Davros.

“And a nearby Dalek ship to collect you, I surmise,” guessed Battle.

“Ah!” exclaimed Davros. “There, I was fortunate.”

“Oh, for a moment, I guess,” I mused. “I’m thinking that Vortech didn’t like hearing about my sister’s survival.”

“For the time being,” countered Davros. “Comas can go both ways.”

“True,” I conceded. “But, I can’t help but feel there’s an unanswered question. Why are you working for a thief like Vortech?”

“You cannot steal what is simply a random object to most people,” answered Davros. “No one, aside from Vortech, is interested in the Foundation Elements!”

“Not what I have heard,” I declared.

“As Vortech’s people, the Vortonians, have been exterminated,” ranted Davros, “and your friends are now fractured, you will not hear that claim again!”

“Do you never do anything but smash and kill?!” protested Wyldstyle.

“There, you are mistaken, Madam Wyldstyle,” argued Davros. “The Daleks have taken to calling me by my title on Necros.”

“The Great Healer?” asked Battle.

“A somewhat flippant title, I confess, but not without substance!” boasted Davros. “I have turned these Daleks into a raw war machine, healed them from the disease of defeat!”

“While working for Lord Vortech, I notice,” I observed. “Did the Daleks expect you to join him?”

“The Daleks understood that power over reality itself was ripe for the taking!” declared Davros.

“With you as their leader?” I asked. “You’re more man than Dalek.”

“So, what of the Dalek sewers?” asked Battle. “Or will they still rot down there?”

“You should know me better than that, Battle,” hissed Davros. “I never waste valuable resources.”

“How can the dead be valuable?” I asked.

“Because the dead make excellent concentrated protein!” replied a Dalek.

“My children are developing their galaxy quickly,” continued Davros. “Nutrient loss WAS one of the empire’s major problems.”

“You’ve turned the inhabitants of your sewers into food?” I said, repulsed at the idea.

“And it has placed me above even the Emperor Dalek!” raved Davros.

“And you lot are okay with resorting to cannibalism?!” I called to the Daleks.

“The dead are only useful in prolonging the living!” replied a Dalek.

“I’ve heard enough!” I declared as I drew my blade. The others got ready to fight.

“If you would permit me,” interjected Davros, “I’d like to show you a new ability I have.” He pulled out the Dalek Gaia Memory Battle had described on Vorton. “Are you familiar with Dopants?”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“When an organic creature is implanted with a connection for a Gaia Memory,” explained Davros, “It gives them power and a form based on the Gaia Memory. The resulting creature is called a Dopant. The only thing that can cause a Dopant to revert to its host’s original state would be a Maximum Drive, where all the power is focused in one attack.” He then pressed the Memory button.

“DALEK!” it announced. Davros then put it into his chair. Light flowed around him as data symbols came over him. His shape soon changed. His chair turned into legs with the lower legs looking like a Dalek’s skirt. He gained a new left arm where the forearm looked like the gunstick, with a gun barrel hidden in the palm, and the right arm had a plunger hidden in the palm. The head looked more like the Dalek dome with the eye embedded in it.

“You now bear witness to the Dalek Dopant!” cheered Davros’ new form. We got ready to fight. OOO extended his claws and rushed at Davros. Davros sidestepped and punched OOO on the spine. Wyldstyle built a cannon out of some Daleks and fired, but Davros shrugged it off. I changed into Wyldstyle Steel and built off the cannon, making it bigger. The two of us fired, but Davros leapt over it and attacked. Wyldstyle broke the cannon and rebuilt it into a combat suit for Rusty. Rusty plugged in and went on the offensive. Davros used the plunger in his hand and lifted him up into the air.

“ALERT!! ALERT!!” he squawked. “SUIT MALFUNCTION!!”

“Get out of there!” I yelled. Rusty shot his way out as Davros tore the battle suit in half. Battle and Guard did a double team attack and swiped at Davros repeatedly. Davros started laughing!

“That tickles!” he jeered. Davros then threw them into me, knocking the wind out of us. He then started laughing. “I see that your green skinned friend is gone!” he called. I looked up and grinned under my helmet.

“A spell to halt the progress ahead!” chanted Elphaba’s voice. Davros started looking around. “To freeze, to bind my foe in red!” Red chains from the air wrapped around Davros. He was yanked into the air and was taken for a ride by Elphaba! She had regained her cackle as she flew, writing “Surrender, Daleks,” in the sky. Davros then managed to plant his feet on the ground. Elphaba stopped and tugged on the chains. Blue light then appeared beneath Davros’ feet as he took off, taking Elphaba off her broomstick! This time, he took her for a ride and made a diving maneuver towards the ground. Davros pulled up in time, but Elphaba did not. When she hit the ground, she lost her concentration on the chains, releasing Davros. We were at Davros’ mercy.

“Look at you inferior creatures,” he boasted. “Lying at my feet with merely seconds of your transformations left.” Why was Davros right? Our transformations cancelled out. “With my Daleks,” continued Davros, “I shall be utterly unstoppable! The Dalek machines being manufactured automatically…”

“I know the Doctor said this to you already,” interrupted Michael, “but it’s not the machines, but the minds. The Daleks are totally evil!”

“And I still do not accept that!” shouted Davros. “The Daleks are merely programmed to survive! To do that, they must become the dominant species! When all other life forms are suppressed, when the Daleks rule everything, then there is peace. Wars will end. Daleks are not a tool of evil, but of good!”

“And to prove your megalomania,” continued Michael, “you created a virus that would destroy all life on contact.”

“You must mean the Reality Bomb,” recalled Davros.

“What?” asked Eiji.

“Electrical energy binds our atoms and their individual parts together,” elaborated Michael. “The Reality Bomb cancels it out. Soon, all manner of matter falls apart, becoming dust, the dust becoming atoms, and the atoms…nothing.”

“Nothing?” I repeated.

“This was in response to a question the Fourth Doctor posed to this lunatic,” finished Michael. He turned to Davros. “If you were to create a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life…”

“You wouldn’t use it, would you?” I asked Davros.

“…To hold in my hand, a capsule that contains such power,” began Davros, “to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice... To know that the tiny pressure of my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything...Michael was right! The Reality Bomb was my virus! If the Doctor had not interfered, that power would have set me up above the gods! But I shall try again to make a new virus! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!”

“How is that helpful to the universe?!” wailed Wyldstyle. “There’s no democracy! You would deny freedom! You would be unfair to everyone that isn’t a Dalek!”

“Democracy?” spat Davros, as if the idea were vile. “Freedom? Fairness? Those are the creeds of cowards. The ones who will listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through absolute power, and power through strength! You have lost!”

“Alert! Time capsule detected!” screamed a Dalek. It was then that a familiar noise rang through the air. Soon, Davros, Skaro, the Daleks, and all other things aside from me and my team faded to make way for the TARDIS’ interior. I made a mad dash for the door, but someone held me back.

“This does not concern you!” I bellowed.

“Wrong!” snarled a voice. The accent was Russian and the tone was feminine. It couldn’t be! I tried again, but the person started gripping my fingers. I turned to see a fully conscious Irina! She released her grip on my fingers. “You idiots better hope Davros can’t follow us to Vorton,” hissed Irina. “If he can, I’m holding you responsible, Mikhail.” There was venom in her voice. I didn’t understand why. I couldn’t dwell on it for long as the TARDIS lurched!

“That monster just latched on!” reported the Doctor, not knowing Davros’ new Dopant form.

* * *

I paced the Gateway room, waiting for that familiar Vworp the TARDIS makes. Emily and a new arrival that Hiroki recommended sat on the platform. They were eating some cake, celebrating a successful procedure that brought Irina out of the coma. He was a young Japanese surgeon that also functioned as a Kamen Rider. From what Hiroki told me, this man, Kagami Hiiro, was a genius surgeon at only 24. He was a bit cold, but it was clear he was trying to get over that. His Rider alias is Kamen Rider Brave. Equipped with the Gamer Driver, he uses a game cartridge, or Gashat, after the Japanese onomatopoeia for inserting a game cartridge into a console, based on a fantasy RPG called Taddle Quest to transform and gain power. Hiroki also said that if there was someone beneath Hiiro's notice, he would dismiss them by saying their existence was a “No Thank You”. Given that Emily knew the medical terminology and tools to get Irina out of that coma, such a phrase wasn’t flung her way. “Careful, Meg,” warned Emily, making me twitch, “you’ll make a trench in the floor.” That was when I heard a Vworp.

“Ah, the Doctor’s returned,” observed Shōtarō.

“It sounds like she’s about to…” began Philip. He didn’t complete his sentence as the TARDIS practically bounced in with a monster hanging on the side. It then started beating on the doors.

“What in the…?” yelped Hiiro as everyone gawked at the monster. The monster then looked around.

“So, this is Vorton, the base of operations for the Vortex Riders. Quaint, compared to my children,” snarled the monster. It then turned to Shōtarō and Philip. “WHAT? W hasn’t left?! I’d best take care of you two first.”

“Philip,” directed Shōtarō, “access the Gaia Library on this monster.”

“Beginning the lookup,” reported Philip. A bright light then appeared beneath him as he shut his eyes. “Keywords?” he asked.

“Dalek Dopant,” answered the monster.

“Stay out of this!” I hissed. Philip then gasped.

“It’s Davros!” he yelped. Shōtarō goggled at the Dopant.

“That thing became a Dopant?!” he cried.

“Correct,” confirmed the Dopant, Davros. The occupants of the TARDIS then exited said time machine.

“You, idiots that decided on getting revenge,” I snarled, “go to my quarters. I’ll talk to you once I’ve dealt with Davros.” I drew out my i.d tag. “Henshin!” I then drew out a new i.d tag, the W i.d tag. I had to touch both Shōtarō and Philip at the same time to get it. I selected CycloneJoker for the specific form.

“W CycloneJoker Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“CYCLONE! JOKER!” called the W Driver’s voice. The music for the respective Gaia Memories played. Shōtarō and Philip then pulled out their Gaia Memories, Heat and Metal. They pressed the buttons.

“HEAT!” called one.

“METAL!” called the other.

“Henshin!” announced the two men. Philip then put his Memory in the belt and passed out. Hiiro caught him and brought him to safety. Shōtarō then put his Memory into the belt after Heat appeared. He then opened the belt.

“HEAT! METAL!” called the belt. HeatMetal’s Memory music played as W twirled the Metal Shaft.

“And now, my turn,” declared Hiroki as he drew his i.d tag. “Henshin!” After the transformation sequence, he drew out his W i.d tag and selected the form.

“W LunaTrigger Steel!” called his belt.

“LUNA! TRIGGER!” announced the W Driver’s voice. An ominous glowing sound played followed by some rock guitar riffs. His steel looked like W, but it was yellow on the right side and blue on the left. We went on the offensive, Sengoku using his fancy katana in rifle mode, or tanegashima mode, as he calls it, and firing multiple shots, forcing Davros to try and seek cover. W made multiple hits with his staff and scorched him on impact. My punches and kicks had a windy effect to them. Soon, Davros could barely stand.

“This clinches it!” called W as he put the Metal Memory into his shaft.

“METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Memory.

“METAL BRANDING!” shouted W. Sengoku then put his i.d tag into the rifle and leveled it on Davros.

“Final attack!” called the weapon.

“RIDER LUNATRIGGER BLAST: TRIGGER FULL BURST!” shouted Sengoku. I jumped into the air for a Rider Kick.

“RIDER CYCLONEJOKER KICK: JOKER EXTREME!” I announced. Sengoku then fired multiple homing shots on Davros. W’s staff lit up on both ends as he delivered a powerful blow to Davros. I split down the middle and both halves charged at Davros. First my right half, then my left. Both sides reconnected when I landed. I felt weird but shrugged it off. We then came together.

“Saa, omae no tsumi o kazoero!” we all finished. Davros’ Dopant body exploded, revealing his old self, and an ugly man he was, and the shattered remains of the Dalek Gaia Memory fell.

“NO! MY POWER!” wailed Davros.

“Doctor, take him to the brig,” I directed as we cancelled our transformations. The Doctor then grabbed Davros’ chair and pushed him to the brig.

“Release me, Doctor!” ordered Davros. “You will return me to Skaro!”

“Shut up, or I’ll switch you off!” threatened the Doctor. She soon brought him into the brig as I headed for my quarters. When I arrived, I leveled my gaze at the ones that tried to seek revenge. Those idiots looked pitiful, like children that were sent to their rooms to wait for the other parent to tear them a new one.

“Well?” I asked icily. “I’m waiting for your explanation.”

“You are…well within your rights to…” began Mikhail. Wrong way to begin.

“We’re not talking about my rights,” I snarled, “we’re talking about the fact that you let your anger towards Davros blind you.”

“Davros brought harm to my sister!” argued Mikhail.

“And she was hurt under my command,” supplied Michael.

“On top of that, he helped my sister,” answered Richard. “I owed him.”

“Besides, we need to make the enemy hurt,” mused Elphaba. Rusty nodded his eyestalk in agreement.

“YOU THINK THAT’S JUSTIFICATION FOR PETTY REVENGE?!” I roared. I turned to Eiji and Wyldstyle. “I didn’t hear your reasons!”

“They’re friends,” replied Wyldstyle.

“They needed backup,” gulped Eiji. I shook my head.

“I don’t believe this!” I shouted. “Tell me, does revenge ever complete anyone? Here’s a hint, NO! It doesn’t! It might fly with the Klingons, but we’re not Klingons and those are not Klingon uniforms! Irina almost lost her brother! If she didn’t convince the Doctor to find you, you would have been dead on Skaro, not even in your native universe! There is a limit to the amount of stupidity I can put up with and you’ve just crossed it! Now, I don’t want to hear another word about revenge or making someone hurt! In fact, I don’t want to hear about Davros being hurt while he’s our prisoner! Is that clear?!”

“Your Highness, Davros is too dangerous to be left alive,” retorted Michael. “He may try to…”

“Crystal clear, Your Highness,” interrupted Mikhail. “This will not happen again and Davros will not be touched unless you say so.”

“And I won’t be saying so anytime soon!” I snapped. “Now, all of you idiots, GET OUT!” They shuffled out of my room. “Oh, and Mikhail, I recommend you do everything in your power to make amends with your sister because she almost lost a family member and considered how to approach telling your dad about your death.” Mikhail said nothing, just nodded and shuffled out after the rest of his team. My room was empty, so I took a breath and sat down. Never, in all my life, had I gotten so angry. Then again, never, in my life, had I nearly lost my friends.


	29. Chapter 29

The effects of Mikhail’s misguided quest still lingered. He had surrendered the studs he got, bringing our total up to 1,225,000 studs. Hiiro had taken his leave, along with Shōtarō, Philip, Eiji, Ankh, and Kōsei, after a little geeking out from Hiroki since W was his favorite rider. Davros refused to say anything about where Foundation Prime was or Vortech’s endgame and managed to flee to his universe. The Doctor gave chase. I sat alone on the Gateway platform, staring at the stars outside. I heard feet on the floor. Irina came in. She was in a ballet outfit, tutu, pointe shoes, hair in a bun, and a leotard. The outfit’s colors were blue and orange, representing her love for contrasting colors. “I didn’t know you did ballet,” I observed. She saw me.

“I never told you?” asked Irina.

“That, or I don’t remember you telling me,” I replied. “When did you start?”

“I guess when I was 4,” explained Irina as she sat next to me, smoothing out her tutu. “I was lucky enough to see _Swan Lake_ back home. I saw how the dancers let the music guide them and how high they leapt, awakening a desire to do the same in me. I started when I was in Kindergarten, realizing how painful it is. Yet, when I made my first public dance, I felt satisfaction when the audience applauded. They really liked my performance. It was then that I made a vow to practice whenever I could.”

“Don’t you relax?” I asked.

“Ballet IS relaxing!” protested Irina. “Granted, it’s a life of pain to perform something so beautiful, but I would give my soul to continue ballet until the day I die.”

“So, that's why you kick so hard?” I asked.

“Ah, there I am fortunate,” giggled Irina. “Oddly enough, American football players practice it too. Strengthens the old core and leg muscles so they can run faster and have greater endurance.”

“No kidding?” I cheered. I had no idea ballet was so demanding. I then changed gears. “Emily and Dr. Kagami never told me how they got you out of that coma.”

“After I cooled down from my brother being stupid, I already told him,” replied Irina. “I’m surprised Emily didn’t tell you. Then again, it might have been too fantastic to be believable.”

“…After everything we’ve seen, are you sure you want to stick by that claim?” I asked.

“Of course not,” replied Irina, “I’m sorry I made such a claim.” Irina began her story.

* * *

This whole event was after Mikhail had taunted Davros. I was wandering through some ornate building with all sorts of silver walls. The whole building felt like a giant brain. Remembering that I was injured on Skaro, I figured the injury put me into a coma and the whole thing was a dream. I started with an obvious test, changing clothes instantly and out of thin air. I imagined myself in a ballet outfit, with a pink leotard and tutu with lime green highlights. My usual dress soon changed into the outfit I imagined, confirming my theory. I reimagined my dress as I patrolled the building. As I passed a room, I could have sworn I heard tools against some hard material. I opened the door to see people digging their way through a rock wall. The people looked familiar. That was when my vision focused on a heavyset woman with white hair, purple skin, and some sort of black dress. I managed to get a good look at the woman and was looking right in the face of Ursula the Sea Witch. I got my i.d tag out, ready to fight, but noticed that her eyes were different. They were just white. No pupils, no color, nothing. Just white orbs and a blank expression. I then waved my hand in front of her face, no response. “She can’t hear you,” boomed a voice, loud and bombastic. I turned to see…well, this is new to any Disney fan. I turned to see King Triton walking towards me! Yes, walking! His tail was replaced with a pair of human legs! He was accompanied by a gray, humanoid robot with a bucket-like helmet, a big black cannon on his arm, and a purple symbol on his chest. I’m familiar with enough Transformers lore to know Megatron when I see him. I was surprised to see he was Triton’s height.

“Your Majesty?” I asked. “What are you doing with legs? And why are you with him?”

“Neither of us are sure on either count,” reported Megatron. Triton nodded to confirm. I glanced over at the wall.

“What do you suppose is behind that thing?” I asked.

“Another thing, I believe,” said Megatron, deciding not to be helpful. “It’s called hard labor.”

“My theory,” answered Triton, being a little more help, “is that this is a mental hijacking, not spatial.”

“I can believe that,” I agreed. “I was put into a coma on another planet in another universe. Last time I checked, Skaro and Vorton don’t look like this.”

“Vorton?” asked Triton. “The planet at the center of the multiverse?”

“That legend reached you?” quizzed Megatron.

“It’s not a legend,” I argued. “My friends and I found it. This belt is a piece of Vortonian technology.”

“I’ve heard legends about the Vortonians,” muttered Triton. “They would travel the universes and view them as if it were that…er…television, I believe Mickey calls it.”

“If you ask me,” rumbled Megatron, “you BOTH need your cerebral functions inspected.” I scoffed and motioned for them to follow me. We patrolled the corridors, searching for a way out. After a few minutes, we were about ready to head back to the dig when we heard a door open up. I whirled around and saw an empty room. It almost looked church-like, but it wasn’t any church I’ve seen. The walls were black, a cauldron sat near a crystal ball where the altar should have been, the stained glass were varying shades of red, and an organ was playing creepy music. The player turned and…good god, this would make Haitao squirm. He was done up as a racist Chinese stereotype, complete with hat and small ponytail, oversized grin, moustache with the ends near his shoulders, and when he spoke, the accent was overly exaggerated.

“So,” cheered the man as he saw us, “you are here at last, Irina.”

“So, you’re the one that’s keeping me in a coma,” I observed.

“I am Seng Seng Giu,” introduced the man.

“You say that as if you expect a round of applause,” snarked Megatron.

“Careful, Megatron,” warned Seng Seng Giu, “it is not hard to destroy my mercy if you are rude in my kingdom.”

“YOUR kingdom?!” I quizzed.

“It is here,” continued Seng Seng Giu, “that Seng Seng Giu rules.”

“Permit me to satisfy my curiosity,” I mused.

“What troubles you?” asked Seng Seng Giu.

“What you’re doing here for a start,” I explained.

“Shall Seng Seng Giu not travel where the spirits lead him?” quizzed Seng Seng Giu.

“Would the spirits have anything to do with the wall out there?” asked Triton.

“Wall? The wall is a normal man’s ignorance,” said Seng Seng Giu in a cryptic.

“…Then, how do you travel?” I quizzed.

“By the power of the Great One,” answered Seng Seng Giu. “In the deserts of Arabia, I learned all the magic arts.”

“Magic?” asked Megatron, incredulously.

“Arabia?” asked Triton.

“Come on,” I groaned. “I know a wizard that can do better than that.”

“You mock Seng Seng Giu,” hissed the false Gandalf. “But, do not doubt that I can summon Furies and Cacodemons, a company of Cherubim…or Lucifer himself.”

“Whoever THAT is,” hissed Megatron.

“Besides,” I observed, “I cannot help that there is something more to this.”

“Do you now?” mused Seng Seng Giu.

“What are you doing kidnapping people’s minds?” I asked. “And what do you want with me?”

“The spirits told me of your…miraculous belt,” explained Seng Seng Giu. “The spirits told me any belt of that kind would do. I hold the whole genius of the stars bound to my will. And now, the Great One has summoned you, Irina.”

“Not just me,” I replied. “What do you want with Triton? Ursula? Megatron? The people at the wall?”

“Slaves are required in my kingdom,” answered Seng Seng Giu.

“I’ve seen mental constructs in the shape of soldiers,” countered Triton. “You MUST be their king.”

“They have other duties,” replied Seng Seng Giu.

“You mean, you need their energies for something else,” I corrected for myself. Seng Seng Giu grinned at me.

“The power you possess shall be used for the great work we shall do together!” he declared.

“We?” I asked.

“Together, we shall scourge the entirety of space and time,” chuckled Seng Seng Giu.

“You can exclude me from your false wizardry!” I declared. Seng Seng Giu chuckled.

“You cannot resist!” he argued. “In this realm, all things obey Seng Seng Giu. Come!” He waved me over to his crystal ball. “Look,” he directed. He then chanted in a language I was sure wasn’t any of Earth. Megatron seemed to recognize it.

“The…Primal…” he muttered. Triton turned to him. “Nothing,” said Megatron.

“You see your fellow mortals?” asked Seng Seng Giu. The ball was showing the diggers at the wall.

“Intriguing,” I mused.

“Stars…” muttered Megatron, remembering what Seng Seng Giu said earlier.

“But,” I continued, “you’re just drawing on someone else’s power. You’re not in control here!”

“Seng…Seng…Giu…” Megatron pieced. “Cantonese…meaning Star-shouting…shouting…scream……scream!” He then started staring daggers at Seng Seng Giu. “I will have your head, traitor!” he roared.

“Oh,” sighed Seng Seng Giu. “You figured me out.” He dropped the accent and adopted a screeching nasally voice. “How tedious.”

“Seng Seng Giu is the Cantonese name for my First Lieutenant, meaning Star Shouting!” explained Megatron. “His English name is…” Seng Seng Giu then shimmered away, and in his place, a red and white robot with wings, a cockpit on the chest, a long rifle on each upper arm, and jet engines for heels, “STARSCREAM!” roared Megatron. Megatron rushed at this Starscream character, ready to punch, but Starscream caught the fist, surprising Megatron.

“I’ve got a lot of power right now,” boasted Starscream, “enough to kill you, but I need one last thing, the Vortex Driver.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well,” replied Starscream with a smile as he tossed Megatron aside, “the power it holds, the ability to use other forms and abilities, it would greatly advance my plans.”

“And your plans are?” I asked, wanting him to keep talking. He didn’t answer my question, just looked hungrily at my Vortex Driver.

“The power you carry will make the power I have absolute!” cheered Starscream. “We shall command all dimensions!”

“I always found domination over foreign powers rather tasteless,” I said stubbornly.

“Shall I be forced to compel you, Irina?” asked Starscream.

“There is no power in the multiverse that will compel me to give you my belt!” I declared. That was when an alarm sounded. Starscream headed to his crystal ball. He chanted something and allowed a picture to form. Emily had gotten to Starscream’s lair with Dr. Kagami. I didn’t know his name then.

“I must prevent the intruders from advancing!” yelped Starscream.

“Not allowed in your little clubhouse?” asked Triton.

“I cannot afford x-factors now!” screeched Starscream. He chanted again and summoned generic soldiers. Emily and Dr. Kagami started fighting them off. Starscream kept putting down soldiers, but my rescuers still fought them off. Emily didn’t even need to transform. They managed to get to the guys at the wall. Emily turned Ursula, proceeded to try and get her out of the trance, then opted for a little, er, percussive maintenance. She punched Ursula. Ursula squawked and started massaging her eye and then trained her vision on Emily. She then proceeded to strike, but Dr. Kagami held her back. They explained what was going on and then they all went to patrol the corridors. Starscream chanted again. This time, Emily’s dad stopped them. He was in his old Military gear.

“Go back,” directed Mr. Saunders. “Go back before it’s too late.”

“Too late?” called Emily. “Dad, we have to save Irina! Remember her? Russian girl? Likes contrasting color schemes?”

“She’s not important,” countered Fred, Mr. Saunders. “If you go any further, you’ll kill me.”

“We can’t take the chance,” declared Dr. Kagami.

“That ain’t Dad,” observed Emily.

“How can you be so cold?” asked Fred.

“Tell me, why are you wearing Navy colors?” questioned Emily.

“I’m in the military, remember?” quizzed Fred.

“But, the Navy?” asked Emily. “Last I checked, you retired as Colonel Fred Saunders of the United States Army!”

“Army?” repeated Ursula. “But you said he’s wearing Navy colors?”

“Exactly,” confirmed Emily. “He said that he wouldn’t be caught dead in Navy colors!”

“Never mind!” shrieked Starscream, realizing Emily wasn’t fooled. “I’ll just bring them here!” He chanted and made them shimmer into the room. They looked around, bewildered, until Emily caught sight of me.

“Irina!” she said happily. If the situation weren’t dire, I think she would have rushed over and given me one of her bear hugs.

“Who are those people with her?” asked Dr. Kagami.

“That’s King Triton of Atlantica,” Ursula hissed when I introduced him, “Megatron of the Decepticons, and that’s his Second in Command, Starscream. Now, here’s a question for you, Emily, who is he?”

“I’m Dr. Kagami Hiiro,” introduced Dr. Kagami. He turned to Starscream. “Are you responsible for the patient’s mind cancer? If you are, then to your existence, I say No Thank You.”

“Are you the one who hypnotized me?!” snarled Ursula.

“Your questions and opinions of me are irrelevant,” dismissed Starscream.

“I don’t think so!” shouted Ursula.

“Wait!” I warned. Too late. Starscream threw Triton and Megatron to Emily’s group and made a white dome around them.

“What’s going on?!” bellowed Megatron.

“He’s thrown up a barrier,” I explained. “I DID try and warn you.”

“I require your Vortex Driver,” demanded Starscream.

“What for?” I asked.

“Don’t ask questions!” snapped Starscream. “You WILL give me your belt!”

“Nyet,” I declared. Starscream, apparently, knew how Russians say “No.”

“Then you will see your friends destroyed and you, yourself, annihilated!” he threatened.

“Ne dumayu,” (I don’t think so) I countered. “We’ve gotten good at resisting your magic!” That was when the barrier started fading. The alarm started ringing. Starscream looked into his Crystal ball and saw that his prisoners were escaping. They consisted of Ariel’s sisters, those blonde Gaston fangirls, Mulan’s friends in the army, and Tron.

“NO!” shouted Starscream.

“Losing control?” I asked.

“You will see your friends suffer for this!” shrieked Starscream. He then started gathering energy near Emily’s group. “You will not survive my combatant!” he declared.

“Not another one!” moaned Emily as she grabbed a candelabra.

“Er, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” I gulped.

“Why?” asked Emily. “These things have proven harmless!” She swung the candelabra, but the energy mass was solid enough to catch it and fling her backwards.

“Starscream is drawing on deeper reserves of power,” explained Megatron. “That thing is bonding itself into something far more dangerous than the soldiers you fought your way through.” It was large, heavily armored, and ready to smash.

“Well?!” shouted Starscream. He didn’t command his soldier to harm my friends, so I believed it was all bluster to frighten me.

“The answer’s still no!” I declared.

“The Vortex Driver!” demanded Starscream.

“I told you, no!” I roared. The brute still didn’t move.

“I’d say now is the time to remove your mental tumor,” declared Dr. Kagami. He then equipped a device on his waist. It was green, had a pink lever on the front, two slots for something to go into it, and another slot holder on the left of his belt.

“We’ll deal with Starscream’s flunky,” boomed Triton. “You deal with Starscream!”

“Mind if I join in?” I asked.

“Hey, let me in on this!” called Emily. “I’m the team medic!” Dr. Kagami made no move to stop us as he pulled out his Taddle Quest…er…Gashat, I believe he called it. Emily and I pulled out our i.d tags. Dr. Kagami pressed a button on the Gashat.

“TADDLE QUEST!” announced the Gashat. A video game title screen then appeared, based on Taddle Quest, and treasure chests flew around and landed in Starscream’s lair. One of them hit said Decepticon on the head. He massaged the damaged area as we all got ready.

“Henshin!” we all said. We put our transformation trinkets into our belts, with Dr. Kagami’s being a little noisy.

“GASHATTO!” called the belt. A bunch of faces circled Dr. Kagami before he selected the knight-looking one on his left side. “Let’s game! Meccha Game! MUCCHA Game! WHAT’S YOUR NAME?! I’m a Kamen Rider!”

“Kamen Rider Touché,” began Touché. “En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Climb!” I announced. “Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Brave,” declared Dr. Kagami. “Commencing Starscream re…” he didn’t get far as he heard snickering from everyone, even me. “Wh…what is it?” asked Brave.

“What is THAT?!” chuckled Touché. She pointed to the form Brave had taken. He had a life gauge on the front, was in white body armor, had a reversal shield, and a knight’s visor with blue hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“This?” asked Brave. “This is standard for all doctors of my profession.” I couldn’t hold back!

“YOU’RE A HUMAN SIZED CHIBI!” I laughed. I kid you not, Brave looked like a chibi, with no neck, a large torso, large feet and legs, and large arms and hands. Everyone started laughing.

“This is Level 1!” protested Brave. “You know?! The starting level?!” We still laughed.

“What did you do?!” Touché managed to get out from her laughing. “Make your Rider form based on a silly fantasy RPG?”

“Yes!” replied Brave. “Taddle Quest!” He pointed to the Gashat in his belt. That only made me shriek with laughter. I finally fell over, calming down and finally hearing everyone else calm down.

“I’m okay!” I answered. My sides were hurting, I never laughed so hard.

“If you’re finished,” said Brave, annoyed, “Commencing Starscream removal operation.” He held up his hands like a doctor would before an operation. He then summoned a sword with a fire design to the blade on one side and an ice design to the other side. It had a blue hilt with an orange A button and a sky-blue B button.

“GASHACON SWORD!” announced the weapon. Brave then charged at Starscream and proceeded to slash at him. I must admit, funny looking though it is, Level 1 was effective. Touché and I charged in, blades out. We all struck Starscream, but he knocked us back. He then opened ports from his chest and fired off bombs to try and flatten us. I’m guessing his targeting systems aren’t what they used to be as he missed. He then opted for the weapons on his arms and fired. His aim was still bad, so we got into close quarters and knocked him back. Starscream sparked and then fell screaming.

“What the?” muttered Brave.

“I always knew Starscream was weak,” chuckled Megatron as he dusted his hands from his fight with the brute. His grin was replaced by a frown. “Now I owe Soundwave 20 Energon cubes.”

“Not…finished…yet!” declared Starscream. He managed to get up and jump out the window. It looked like we were pretty high up, but Starscream did something to break his fall. He grew until he was five meters tall.

“Full height?!” snarled Megatron.

“How do we beat him?!” I asked.

“Proceeding with Level 2,” called Brave. He then opened the lever.

“GACHAN!” announced the belt. The other side of the lever said “Gamer Driver” in graffiti style writing. “LEVEL UP!” said the belt. Orchestral medieval music started playing. “Taddle Meguru! Taddle Meguru! Taddle Quest!” (My helmet translated it as “Battle for your future! Fight for the adventure! Welcome to Taddle Quest.”) Brave’s Level 2 transformation was nothing more than shedding off the Chibi armor to reveal a person sitting backwards inside and the Level 1 face becoming a backpack, the Gamer Driver transferring to the new form’s front, and the new person opening a set of double doors to reveal himself. His new form looked more human. His reversal shield became a shield gauntlet. His head shrunk to a human size, his life gauge moved to his chest, and he gained shoulder pads.

“Now THAT’S a Rider Form!” I cheered. We all then leapt up and made various attacks. Starscream then swatted us away. Megatron then fired with that cannon of his, but Starscream laughed it off.

“Look at you pitiful twits!” he laughed. “You can only hope for my power, but I actually possess it! Not even your vaunted fusion cannon can help you, Megatron! You would need focused energy to make me lose concentration on keeping you small!” Megatron then formed a plan. I caught on and convinced him to let me help him. Megatron then changed shape. His feet came together and ejected a trigger while the feet went over the upper legs. His torso turned to his right while the arms went over the front and rear of the waist and the shoulders made the hammer of a gun. His head went into his torso while his fusion cannon went to the top of the shape and a barrel that was on his back went to the front of the new shape. A stick-like thing had swung down from the grip and it released a long tube that went over the barrel. Megatron shrunk to become a human-sized Walther P-38 handgun with sight, silencer, and stock. He landed in my hand and I aimed at Starscream’s head.

“Starscream, I think I have a new name for you,” I declared, “Baron Von Blabs-about-his-only-weakness.” I pulled the trigger. Megatron fired. The shot hit Starscream in the face.

“MY OPTICS!” he shrieked.

“Now’s your chance!” I called. I tossed Megatron into the air. As he transformed, he grew! A full six meters! Taller than Starscream! He then proceeded to grapple with Starscream, but said robot grappled back. “Hold him down!” I said. I then put my i.d tag into my weapon. Touché did the same. Brave then took the Gashat out and put it into his sword.

“GASHUN!” announced the belt in a voice that went like something powering down.

“GASHATTO!” called Brave’s sword. “KIMEWAZA!” A noise loop started playing.

“Final attack!” said my blade as well as Touché’s. Megatron then made Starscream face us.

“RIDER CLIMB SLASH!” I shouted.

“RIDER TOUCHÉ SLASH!” called Touché.

“TADDLE CRITICAL FINISH!” announced Brave’s sword. We all made slashing motions and released various energy waves, or fire waves, in Brave’s case, right at Starscream’s chest. Megatron got away as the attacks made their mark. Starscream exploded, then my vision went dark, for a moment.

* * *

I woke up back in the medical bay on Vorton. There were electrodes attached to my head as well as Emily’s and Dr. Kagami’s. We got the electrodes off. “Game Clear,” said Dr. Kagami. “I think we can call this operation a success.”

“How much do I owe you, Doctor?” I asked.

“Just rest up,” assured Dr. Kagami. That was when the Doctor came in.

“Ah! Irina! All well, I trust?” she asked.

“Doing better,” I reported.

“Good,” answered the Doctor, “Maybe you can convince your brother to get back from Skaro. He’s seeking revenge on Davros.”

“WHAT?!” I yelled.

“I’m surprised Emily didn’t tell you,” mused the Doctor.

“I didn’t want my patient worried,” answered Emily.

“A wise choice, since the operation was delicate,” agreed Dr. Kagami.

“I have to get to Skaro NOW!” I shouted. Dr. Kagami held me back.

“No, you don’t,” he snapped. “You’re not fit.”

“But the Doctor just released me!” I protested.

“Not the one that’s taking care of you,” insisted Dr. Kagami.

“You may be A doctor, but I’m THE Doctor,” argued the Doctor.

“Look, the patient’s not fit and…” continued Dr. Kagami.

“Not fit?!” I snarled, getting up from the bed. “Of course, I’m fit! All systems, go!” I chopped a table in half with my foot, then started running in place.

“Careful!” warned Dr. Kagami. “You’ll cause your heart to…” I put a stethoscope into his ears and placed the resonator on my chest. The sound seemed to confuse Dr. Kagami. “That can’t be right,” he muttered. “Your heart should be going a little faster.”

“Ah, we must be patient!” I declared. “Ballerina’s like myself tend to control their pulses!” I then examined my legs. “As for my leg muscles…well, I’m not too sure.” I raised my leg to Dr. Kagami’s face. “What do you think? Can you say anything about my leg muscles?”

“Well, I…er, I can’t really…” stammered Dr. Kagami.

“Ah, I’m just… ‘legging’ you on!” I punned. Emily and the Doctor groaned.

“I can’t believe you assaulted our ears with a pun that bad,” hissed Emily.

“Exactly,” agreed the Doctor. “That was neither ‘ear’ nor there!”

“Really?!” wailed Emily.

“Well, I can’t waste any more time,” I declared. “I have an idiot brother to rescue!” I charged for the door, but Dr. Kagami blocked my way.

“You’re going nowhere but back to bed!” he insisted. “I have not released you!” I staggered back.

“How can I prove my point?” I moaned. The Doctor saw a rope and got a wicked gleam in her eyes. She then grabbed it, started twirling the rope, and jumped rope with Dr. Kagami while she said a little rhyme.

“Mother, Mother, I feel sick! Send for the Doctor, quick, quick, quick! Mother, dear, shall I die? Yes, my darling, by and by! One! Two! Three! Four!” She got all the way to thirteen before she tied him up with the rope and stuffed him in the closet. We then headed to the TARDIS with Emily shouting after us. We took off and I got a meal in me on the way.

* * *

“The rest, you know,” finished Irina.

“Yep,” I confirmed “You managed to rescue Mikhail and his team. Davros, in a new Dopant form, hitched a ride here. W, Hiroki, and I defeated him. The Doctor put him in a cell. I expressed my anger at the team, and you let your brother know how disappointed you were in him.”

“And, we lost our only lead to Vortech’s plans,” hissed Irina.

“We can find another,” I assured. I then changed gears. “So, you practice in the Gateway Room?”

“It’s the most open space there is,” replied Irina. “What about you? Why did you come here?”

“Death told me to meet a girl she picked to become Kamen Rider Apocalypse,” I said. “She originally hailed from the Simpson’s world. Oddly enough, she tried to keep the chaos to a minimum there.” A portal then opened and let a teenage girl through. Her skin was the palest I have ever seen, as white as Tonje’s hair! Her jet-black hair was adorned with some black flower ornament with a tiny skull in the center. She was in a school girl uniform, colored grey with white in the ascot and massive number of petticoats of her skirt. Seriously, her main skirt may have reached as far as her calves, but the petticoats made it spread out to the side! She had to rest her arms on it! “Er…Lacey Thanatos, is it?”

“That’s me,” confirmed the girl. “And you’re Megumi?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“I’ll…uh…leave you be,” said Irina. She left, and Lacey and I engaged in awkward silence.

“So…uh,” I began, “did you have a nice journey?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Nice and smooth.” More awkward silence.

“Er…so…” I stammered. “What brings you here? Death never told me why you’re visiting.”

“I came here to give you a list of sorts,” answered Lacey, “relating to the Tarlaxians.”

“Like Turretorg?” I asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Lacey. “It contains the names of the Tarlaxians under Lord Vortech’s control.”

“How did you get something like that?!” I quizzed. “That must have been risky to get it!”

“Well, my initial mission was,” replied Lacey. “But, you’re a busy woman. I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re one of the people said to beat Lord Vortech, as am I,” I assured. “I think sharing some secrets would be a good idea. Besides, Vortech’s activities are at a lull. I’ve got time for a story.”

“In that case,” began Lacey as we sat down, “let’s cue the wavy flashback.”


	30. Chapter 30

Tarlax is…well…WAS a lush place in the multiverse. The trees would always bear fruit, crops were plenty, food of all kinds was available to even the poorest Tarlaxian. I wish I could say that was what the Four Horsemen and I were greeted to. Instead, we got a Mordor like landscape. The people were starving and being smacked around by a race of potato headed, three fingered trolls, the Sontarans. We proceeded to a formerly ornate castle. It was run down now, silhouetted against a red sky. “You should have come here at the height of their Empire,” sighed Death, taking the form of an old woman. “Their entertainment was second to none, the criminal justice system was superb, the Empress was fair, yet firm, and their warriors would make Sontarans and Klingons cry.”

“Then why are there Sontarans here?” I asked.

“Part of Vortech’s design,” growled War, looking like a girl in cardboard armor. We approached the castle, but a guard stopped us.

“We only wish to see your Queen Empress,” assured Death.

“You will have to leave the staff here,” replied the guard, a hulking brute in Roman Centurion gear and a bladed tail.

“Would you take a grandmother’s walking stick?” I asked. “This little girl here would be very disappointed if you remove something of value to her grandmother.” I was referring to War, who gave me a dirty glare. The guard considered my words, then let us pass. The halls were…tall. No real tapestries, though. I was picturing something more opulent. We went towards the throne. On it sat a bug-like humanoid, modeled after a scorpion, I’d say. It had four arms. Two of them ended in scorpion claws while the other ended in clawed fingers. It had its tail wrapped around the waist like a belt, had two big black eyes and six smaller ones beneath the large ones. It had a fang on each side of the mouth and a pale brown carapace. It looked female, but I couldn’t vouch for that until Death spoke.

“The welcome in your hall has gone down, Queen Empress Scorpainia,” she observed. That answered the question about its gender, I guess. Her advisor whispered something to her. The advisor was bipedal, had large, red, metal arms and a triangular head with the point facing us.

“Why…should I…welcome strangers?” groaned Scorpainia.

“A just question, My Liege,” agreed the advisor. He then strode towards us. “Late is the hour in which these false witches come, requesting money to help us when we cannot pay. Our money must go to the Sontarans on our world so they may better defeat the Rutans.”

“But what about the people?!” I wailed. Death motioned for silence.

“I’m afraid our resources must go to keeping our Empress alive,” answered the advisor. “Without her, this universe will die.”

“She seems to be dying anyways,” observed Death.

“Metalran…” wheezed Scorpaina. The advisor, Metalran, headed for the throne. She seemed to whisper something, but it was unintelligible.

“You see?” asked Metalran. “Her mind is troubled and you would heap more troubles?”

“Hold your forked tongue behind your teeth!” snarled War.

“Or what, little girl?” asked Metalran. It was then he noticed the design on the toy sword. “The Horsemen!” roared Metalran. “I told you potato trolls to keep the Four Horsemen from our door!” The Sontarans were confused but trained their rifles on us.

“Now,” declared Death. She and War dropped the disguises and held off the Sontarans. I knocked Metalran down and rushed for the throne.

“I’ve heard tales about your magnificence,” I said to Scorpainia. “Those tales will be told again. Queen Empress Scorpainia, old friend of my teachers, I will release you from the evil side of darkness that has taken you.” She started gurgling with laughter.

“You have no power here, student of Death,” she laughed. I had a feeling that the voice wasn’t her own. I then revealed my belt, but Scorpainia laughed. “What is that? Something to free her with?” I knew it. Someone’s speaking through her.

“Whoever you are, release her,” I demanded.

“Or what?” giggled the person through Scorpainia’s mouth.

“Or you shall bear witness to Kamen Rider Apocalypse, one of two people capable of beating Vortech!” I declared.

“Impossible!” dismissed the person. “There is no Kamen Rider Apocalypse!”

“Wanna bet?” I asked. “Henshin!” I turned into Apocalypse before the enemy’s eyes. After I put my suit on, I turned the dial on my belt to Death’s symbol.

“Death Scythe!” announced my belt. A scythe blade appeared on each of my wrists as energy gathered in my hands.

“I don’t know who you are,” I snarled, “but I will extract you like poison from a wound!” I surrounded Scorpainia with energy and saw a figure of a man. I remembered the shape from one of Death’s lectures. This was Lord Vortech!

“If I go,” warned Vortech, “Scorpainia and Tarlax die!”

“Let Death be the judge of that!” I countered. I saw a slave chip on Scorpainia’s shoulder and a thread that connected Vortech’s consciousness to Scorpainia. I charged at Scorpainia with both blades flashing, one striking the slave chip, the other severing Vortech’s connection with Scorpainia. Once both were severed, Scorpainia fell forward in her chair.

“My Lady!” called Metalran. He rushed forward to catch her. When he did, he turned to me. “You would dare bring harm to my Empress?! You have made a costly mistake!!”

“No, Metalran,” growled Scorpainia. “She has healed me!” Her claw then grabbed Metalran’s throat. “YOU, on the other hand, kept me in the dark!” Metalran dropped the act.

“It is…better…to stand with…Lord Vortech…than to…oppose him!” he choked out.

“Run home to your master and tell him he has no prize in this universe!” demanded Scorpainia. She released him. Metalran caught his breath and turned to the Sontarans.

“KILL THEM ALL!” he ordered before leaving through the vortex. The Sontarans raised their guns at us. Scorpainia grabbed a strange fruit that was triangular and purple. She ate the whole thing, then made a disgusted noise. Apparently, it tastes bad, but restores a Tarlaxian to full strength. Her carapace went from pale brown to reddish brown. Her face contorted to an animalistic snarl. She then bellowed as laser fire bounced off her shell. One of the guards outside heard the commotion and saw Scorpainia destroying the Sontarans. His face brightened as he ran through the city to spread the news. Soon, the Tarlaxians ate the same fruit Scorpainia did so they could be on equal footing with the Sontarans. The fight soon became chaotic. War, Death, and I were following Technarain, a metallic humanoid with a scalp shaped like a brain. We were starting to get tired.

“Okay,” I muttered as I gave a chop to the back of a Sontaran’s neck, “any bright ideas?”

“There are the Omega Protocols,” grunted War as she beheaded a Sontaran.

“Out of the question,” snapped Technarain.

“What are you, deficient?!” snarled War. “The Omega Protocols are your people’s only chance!”

“There’s an invading force in this universe!” declared Technarain. “The Omega Protocols will do the work for them!”

“I’ll be the judge of that!” boomed Scorpainia as she leapt onto a Sontaran and injected him with the poison in her tail. She then started glowing red. Technarain saw this, sighed, then followed suit. Soon, every Tarlaxian was glowing red. Blades then formed from blue light. They had a circle around the handle and extended past both ends. They were built out of some blue metal. All blades then started glowing blue. “Initiate the Omega Protocols! Start the Apocalypse!”

“What!?” I yelped. The Tarlaxians slashed and made dimensional rifts everywhere.

“Those are rift blades,” grunted War. “I believe you can guess why.”

“But that many rifts will tear this universe apart!” I recalled, thinking back to Pestilence’s lessons on multiversal stability.

“That’s the intent behind the Omega Protocols,” replied Scorpainia. “A universe can’t be taken if there’s no universe to take. The Vortonian Identifier String would call this universe T-4-R-L-4-X-1-3, Tarlax 13. What do you think happened to the other 12?”

“Wait,” I guessed, “then those energy masses we passed on the way here, those were your previous universes?”

“And this whole mess HAD to happen when we got this universe the way we liked it!” snapped Technarain. All Tarlaxians turned into silver spheres and fled through the rifts. Meanwhile, the Sontarans were in disarray. A trooper brought his gun to bear on us. His commanding officer, a Colonel Starn, stopped him.

“Sir, we cannot let the Tarlaxians steal our prize from us!” called the trooper. “Let me take them out! I will slaughter them like the dogs they are!”

“Brave of you, Trooper Draggh,” lauded Colonel Starn, “but we also cannot afford more losses. And your opponents would have been Death and War. Woman though they are, they would have killed you where you stood and the battle would not have added to the glory of the Sontaran Empire. We will withdraw to Foundation Prime. Our primary mission was achieved anyway.” The trooper complied and followed the retreat with Starn covering the rear.

“Before you leave,” called Scorpainia to Death, “I have something for you.” She fished out an i.d tag. “On this tag is a list of Tarlaxians that were enslaved and those that joined Vortech willingly. I obtained it before Vortech placed me under that spell.” She then saw me. “What’s the matter with your student?”

“But…I don’t…who…” I stammered.

“It’s not uncommon,” whispered Death. “Many species have a similar defense mechanism.”

“I…guess,” I sighed. I shook my head. “Can I have that list? I think Kamen Rider Vortex is gonna need it.”

“I think she’s on Vorton,” whispered Death.

“I thought it was destroyed,” questioned Scorpainia.

“The new Vortex Riders have restored power to the Gateway and the atmospheric generators,” grunted War. “They’re using it as a base of operations.”

“I’ve never been to Vorton,” I told Death. “Where is it?”

“The center of the dimensional vortex,” whispered Death. “Just follow the pull of the vortex past the Transformers cluster. You can’t miss it.” I hopped on my horse and did as she instructed.

* * *

“The whole trip took about two hours,” said Lacey as she finished. She then gave me an i.d tag with no decoration on it. “Just put this into your belt and you’ll know who’s friend and who’s foe.”

“Thank you,” I lauded as I bowed. “Would you like to stay a while?”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” sighed Lacey. “My training regimen’s a little harsh and I need to get back to stick with it. It was nice meeting you. I hope we see each other again.” She hopped on her horse and took off through the vortex again. I was left alone again, for a few seconds. X-PO floated by.

“There you are!” he cheered. “Lukas, Batman, Rusty, Elphaba, the Brigadier, and I have just located the next Foundation Element!”

“Wonderful news!” I exclaimed. I then pressed the intercom button on the Gateway. “Everyone, come to the Gateway room at once! Our quest is about to gain more fruit!”

* * *

Metalran, his loyalists, and the Sontarans had returned to my domain. Starn was angry with Ambassador Hell, with the feelings of the Shocker leader being mutual towards the Sontarans. Davros joined in the argument as well as Metalran. By this time, I decided to call for silence. “Let us see what had transpired,” I demanded. “Starn, you say that Ambassador Hell did not give you the reinforcements you requested, but, Ambassador Hell, you say there was no such request. Starn, you accuse Metalran of not preparing your troops properly, but, Metalran, you say that your own informant was incorrect in the political situation of your previous universe. Ambassador Hell, you blame Davros for not preparing your men against Daleks, hence why you believe Starn made no reinforcement request, but, Davros, you say that your Daleks would rather die than work with Shocker.”

“An excellent summing up,” mused Ambassador Hell. “You know, Lord Vortech, you would have made a very good judge.”

“You forget, Ambassador, I AM your judge,” I hissed. “Your jury and executioner, too!” I then bowed in mock politeness. “If need be.” I turned to my right-hand man and his fiancée. “Only Hiro and Igura have not weighed in and accuse anybody.”

“Because the whole thing has nothing to do with us,” replied Hiro. “Igura said she has news about the next Foundation Element. I wish this whole thing were put aside so she can get on with it.”

“Excellent!” I cheered. “A shining example of knowing one’s duties! Listen to me, all of you! I am not concerned with this petty argument! One thing concerns me, and one thing alone, we must gather the Foundation Elements!”

“But it’s the dispute here that’s preventing us from doing so,” reminded Hiro.

“Exactly,” I agreed. “So, let me offer a simple solution! The Orcs will retrieve the new Foundation Element as well as our fiery friend and enigma obsessed ally. The Sontarans are to remain here as guards in case anyone tries anything foolish. Davros, you are to work with the Rani and help her create a new body for the Yeti. Ambassador Hell, you are to tell your men to await my orders as they have proven untrustworthy in terms of success. Metalran, you are to tell your loyalists to hunt Scorpainia and kill her! Now, get moving!” No one argued as they moved to obey. Igura headed to the Orcs to brief them of the situation. I went to my throne to rest.


	31. Chapter 31

We had gathered in the Gateway room the next day. All of the Keystone Bearers were on the platform and X-PO started his Rider Chance. “And today’s riders are…” the arrow stopped on Sheela. “Sheela!” announced X-PO. The next arrow stopped on Lukas. “And Lukas!”

“Theek hai!” (Alright!) cheered Sheela.

“Wunderbar!” (Wonderful!) called Lukas.

“Destination set!” reported Rusty.

“CHARGE!” I called. We pounded through the vortex. Meanwhile, the enemy was already there with the Foundation Element in hand. The leader, a man in green with question marks was playing it like a basketball, but almost dropped it. An Orc caught it.

“Thank you, friend,” said the leader.

“What’s Lord Vortech want with this stone?” asked the Orc as he handed it back to his current boss.

“No idea,” replied the man. “It’s quite the riddle!” The man chuckled softly to himself.

“It’s not fair!” whined a raspy voice. “Sméagol does the riddleses!”

* * *

We soon arrived at our destination. It was a landmark I recognized! A friendly place if the Steward would get his head out of his butt! “Minas Tirith, the White City!” called Gandalf. “We are in Middle-Earth!”

“You mean Middle-Zealand?” asked Wyldstyle.

“…No,” replied Gandalf.

“So, it’s called Minas Tirith, I see,” called a voice. A Japanese man walked towards us. His hair was messy, he wore a loose shirt, and had his hands in his pockets, incredibly rude in Japan. “Most people don’t pop out of holes in space like that. I’m guessing you guys aren’t most people. Neither am I. I see that a Showa Rider’s with you.”

“You’re the second kabutomushi (rhinoceros beetle) Rider, right?” asked Hongo. “Kamen Rider Kabuto?”

“That’s me,” confirmed the man. “And you’re Takeshi Hongo, the first Kamen Rider.”

“I’m Princess Megumi Hishikawa of the Feudal Nerd Society,” I introduced. “What’s your civilian name?” The man smirked.

“Obaachan ga itteita,” (Grandmother said this) he said. He then pointed to the sky. “Ten no michi o iki, subete o tsukasadoru otoko.” (Walking the path of heaven, the man that shall rule over everything.) He then pointed toward the sun. “Ore no na wa…Tendō…Sōji.” (My name is…Tendō…Sōji.)

“…Well, I’ve seen my fair share of arrogance, but that takes the cake,” I muttered. “Your name literally means Path of Heaven, Ruler of All.”

“Comes with the greatness of the Zecter,” replied Sōji.

“The what?” I quizzed.

“The Kabuto Zecter, my transformation device,” elaborated Sōji. He turned to Gandalf. “You’re the one most familiar with this place?”

“Of course!” answered Gandalf. “This universe is my home! I have good news; we will be welcome here!”

“I’m not so certain,” countered Batman. He pointed to the current inhabitants that bellowed at us.

“ORCS?!” yelped Gandalf. “But how?!” That’s when some of the Orcs appeared to teleport. Sōji appeared to be ticked at them.

“I can see right through them,” he hissed. “Some of those Orcs are my enemies, a race of aliens that only need to look at a victim to copy their looks and memories, the Worms. They can molt their original shells and gain super speed, faster than our eyes can go. That’s where the Zecter comes in.” A red, metal rhino beetle flew towards Sōji and he caught it.

“Battle, it is!” I remarked. We got ready.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced. Sōji slid the beetle into his belt buckle with the horn facing his left.

“Henshin!” repeated the beetle. Sōji’s armor appeared in hexagons and looked bulky. It had ZECT on the left shoulder and a blue visor. He then tapped the horn forward. The armor opened a little with a hiss.

“Cast Off!” called Sōji, Kamen Rider Kabuto. He then moved the horn to his right side.

“Cast Off!” repeated the beetle.

“Hit the deck!” warned Batman. We all fell to the ground while Kabuto’s armor flew off, damaging the Orcs. The new suit had red armor and allowed a beetle horn to go up across his visor.

“Change Beetle!” announced the beetle. An intercom then switched on.

“Welcome!” called the speaker. Batman tensed up.

“The Riddler!” he hissed.

“Please,” invited the Riddler’s voice, “come on in if you can! I hope you remembered to pack your brain, fail my riddles and you’ll feel pain!” The Orcs and disguised Worms came at us.

“You can barricade yourself in all you like, Riddler,” threatened Batman as he punched an Orc. “I’m coming for you!” Some of the Orcs went faster. Their attacks came out of nowhere!”

“Clock Up,” announced Kabuto as he slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up!” repeated the beetle before he disappeared.

“Can Sméagol do his riddleses now?” asked a voice over the intercom.

“Gollum?!” yelped Kämpfer, Claw, Gandalf, and I.

“Um, NO!” replied the Riddler. There were some explosions in the air after we dispatched the normal Orcs.

“Clock Over!” announced the Kabuto Zecter. Kabuto then reappeared with an Orc looking Worm that was shedding its disguise. Its real form looked like an armored humanoid with three large claws on the right arm, a hood like carapace, and the face looking like the eyes were being covered by hands. Kabuto then pressed the three buttons on top of the Zecter. “One! Two! Three!” counted the Zecter. He moved the horn back to his left before turning his back on the Worm as it charged at him.

“Rider Kick,” announced Kabuto. He moved the horn back over to the right.

“Rider Kick!” repeated the Zecter. He then did a 180º roundhouse kick, making the Worm blow up. Once the enemies were dispatched, Batman got his grapple gun ready to open an Orc Siege Tower. I got out the Batman i.d tag and swapped my usual one out.

“Batman Steel!” announced Vortoranii. My armor changed and I got my grapple gun. We opened up the siege tower and we got some parts.

“I have literally no idea what to do with this,” called Wyldstyle.

“Maybe I can get some help from another universe,” I mused. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found the rift near a pile of hastily made Orc barricade. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “…Well, I’m sure GLaDOS won’t mind. Locate help from P-0-R-T-4-L!” A giant turret in leopard print and wearing a crown came out. I heard a voice from the rift before it closed.

“Wheatley, shut up!” snapped the voice. It had a Swahili accent I was familiar with!

“Tanisha?!” I yelped. The rift closed.

“Tanisha?” repeated Batman. “What’s she doing in GLaDOS’ world?”

“Maybe some mission with Wheatley,” I muttered.

“Hopefully, this contraption will aid us,” observed Gandalf, remembering his previous encounter with turrets. The giant turret was pointed at the gate, but not firing.

“I’ll try it out,” offered Kabuto. He jumped up and found controls for the turret inside the crown. He started firing on the barricade that replaced the main gate.

“Heads up!” warned Batman.

“Look! From over the walls!” called Gandalf.

“Look out!” yelped Wyldstyle. The enemy had started using their catapults! Kabuto got clear as an Octan ship from Wyldstyle’s universe destroyed the turret.

“Well, we’ll have to find another way in,” muttered Kabuto.

“No need,” answered Wyldstyle. “I can rebuild it, better than it was before, and more awesome.”

“That’s all well and good,” argued Kämpfer, “but it’s on fire. We need to douse it. Gandalf, würdest du bitte?” (If you please?)

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Kämpfer!” Kämpfer doused the flames while Wyldstyle built a bigger cannon out of the turret and the Octan ship. Kabuto took the controls again and destroyed the barricade. The enemy came out and we fought our way through. Some of the Orcs were Worms, though. In fact, many. I touched Kabuto and got his i.d tag. I swapped out the Batman one for the new one. It had multiple forms, so I chose his slimmer form.

“Kabuto Rider Steel!” called Vortoranii.

“Cast Off: Change Beetle!” announced the Zecter’s voice. My new armor was similar to Kabuto, complete with horn. Kabuto looked at me, confused, I’ll wager.

“Clock Up!” I yelled.

“Clock Up!” repeated the Zecter’s voice. Kabuto did the same action as we dispatched the Worms. Man, super speed is awesome, but everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, slows down. “Clock Over!” said the Zecter as we both slowed down. We all made our way in.

“Where would the fun be in just letting you up here?” asked the Riddler. “I thought I might toy with you a little first!” There was a green energy field around a door leading up into the main courtyard.

“This magic barrier is being channeled,” mused Gandalf. “We should follow it and turn it off.”

“I’d argue the magic bit, but you’re right,” replied Batman. Ichigō then leapt into the air.

“RIDER PUNCH!” he shouted as he punched a door which had cables for the energy field sticking out.

“Was that necessary?” I asked.

“I haven’t practiced that technique!” protested Ichigō. We went through the door.

“So, I guess my welcome party wasn’t to your liking?” quizzed the Riddler. “Oh well. So, heroes, riddle me this: _This is cast, but not a stone. It flees from light. The dark, its home._ ”

“Oh, a riddle?” asked Gandalf. “Bilbo would have been useful here, most definitely.”

“Bow before your Golden master!” roared a voice. A black and gold four-legged spider mech came with its pilot in the same colored armor. I didn’t know which dimension he came from, nor do I care. All I knew was that he made a web from golden strands and had turned part of a building gold so he could levitate it and block our path. Batman and Kabuto took care of that. Kabuto had grabbed a rope and lashed it to the rubble. Batman and Kabuto pulled it down, but the man had levitated statues to block our way to the web.

“Allow me,” called Gandalf. He levitated the statues out of the way and saw something inside the web. There was a cable running from the web to the door. “That box seems to be the source,” observed Gandalf.

“And the legs of the mech seem to be the source of the web,” guessed Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, near the right leg of the mech! Yellow, near the left leg of the mech! Magenta, near the bottom of the web! Shift! Royal! Cyan! Shift! Batman! Yellow!” Batman and I warped to our respective locations. I changed into Batman Steel and we fired our grapple guns at the mech’s legs.

“What are you doing?!” roared the pilot. The legs were loosened, so Batman and I threw a batarang at the joints, making the mech fall off the web. The pilot escaped before the mech exploded, leaving fire behind.

“Let me try the Elemental Keystone,” called Kabuto. “It seems interesting.”

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Kabuto!”

“Just put your hand towards the fire,” I instructed. Kabuto did so and a stream of water came out, dousing the flames. We then opened the box to reveal an on/off switch. I set it to off and power stopped going to the energy field.

“Off we go!” called Claw. We left that courtyard and headed to the main one. Another door was available to us, so we went through there, via Kabuto’s Rider Kick. When we entered that courtyard, the Riddler came through.

“Time for the second part of my riddle!” he challenged. “ _What breathes, dances, and bakes, yet has no lungs, legs, or cakes?_ ” We went through with no interruption, for a while, until I heard an unearthly humming.

“Anyone else hear that?” I asked. A saucer then buzzed us. It had some sort of face on the front and a four-barreled cannon. The pilot was green skinned and bald.

“Brainiac?!” yelped Batman.

“You know him?” I asked.

“He’s one of Superman’s enemies,” explained Batman. “Has a habit of shrinking cities to bottle sized ones.”

“Just that?” I muttered.

“Do not be so quick to underestimate me, fleshy!” warned Brainiac.

“Did I neglect to mention he’s a robot?” quipped Batman.

“A robot with the knowledge and strength of ten thousand worlds!” boasted Brainiac. He then used some sort of ray to make a box grow and block our path.

“This is worse than I could have possibly imagined,” muttered Gandalf.

“Surrender now!” demanded Brainiac as he shrunk one of the city’s buildings. “You are only delaying the inevitable!” He then tossed the tiny building at us. Gandalf pushed it back into Brainiac, making his saucer spark. “NO!” wailed Brainiac. “You dare attack Brainiac! My intelligence is brighter than anything you can dredge up!”

“Grandmother said this,” called Kabuto. “It doesn’t matter how bright a candle thinks it is, it will never outshine the sun.” Wyldstyle then built a ladder to get us over the barrier. More Orcs greeted us, some going faster. Claw, Kämpfer, and I changed i.d tags to the Kabuto one and selected his Rider Form.

“Kabuto Rider Steel!” announced our belts.

“Cast Off: Change Beetle!” called the Zecter’s voice.

“Shall we?” I asked Kabuto. He nodded and then slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up,” we announced.

“Clock Up!” repeated the Zecter’s voice. We sped up and attacked, breaking through the forces and destroying Worms and Orcs alike. Eventually, “Clock Over!” was the announcement of the Zecter.

“You still persist?” taunted Brainiac. “I think you are confusing bravery with outright foolishness!” He shrunk some large statues. “It is useless to resist Brainiac!” Brainiac threw one at us, but Claw had changed armor again.

“Wizard Flame Dragon Steel!” called her belt.

“Flame! Dragon!” announced the WizarDriver’s voice. “Bou. Bou! Bou, bou, BOU!” (Burn) Claw’s armor had a red trench coat and a pair of horns on the helmet. She then mimed flipping levers on a WizarDriver and brought out a ring. “Lupachi magic! Touch to go! Levitate, please!” She managed to push the statue towards Brainiac. Once it crashed into his ship. Brainiac ranted.

“How is this possible?!” he wailed. He tried to regain his dignity. “Such pitiful creatures! You are not worthy of facing Brainiac!” He did the same tactic again and got the same result. “What is this foolishness?!” he snapped. “It is useless to resist Brainiac!” Didn't he say that already? Anyway, he threw a statue a third time.

“Insane,” I mused.

“Ja, that is a classic case of insanity,” agreed Kämpfer. “He’s going to fail and he doesn’t even realize it.”

“I am Brainiac!” shouted Brainiac. “I am not programmed to fail!” He tossed the statue. Claw yawned as she pushed the statue away one more time, destroying the ship. “This was unforeseen,” he mumbled.

“He’s down!” called Wyldstyle. “That was one big, ugly, green alien.”

“No, again, robot,” argued Batman as we got to the box Brainiac was guarding. We opened it and shut down the generator. We made our way to the main courtyard and approached one more door. We tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Found the problem,” reported Claw. “There’s a piece of wood across the top.”

“I’ll just break it down,” offered Ichigō.

“How, exactly, do you intend to do that?” I asked. He then moved back. “Wait, let me guess.” He ran forward. “Don’t tell me!” I said. He leapt into the air. “You’re going to use a…”

“RIDER CHOP!” called Ichigō. He chopped the wood in half, opening the way to another courtyard. A bunch of stuff from GLaDOS’ universe, like platforms, and switches, and neurotoxin generators! A portal opened, letting GLaDOS poke her head out.

“Surprised to see me?” she asked.

“What are you doing here?!” I snapped.

“After you left,” explained GLaDOS, “I decided that if you are going to run from my tests, then I’m just going to have to bring my tests to you. Enjoy.” She left as the portal closed.

“You’re doing very well!” praised the Riddler. “Time for part 3 of our Riddle Special. _Deep below, veiled from sight, it dwells where Dwarves find their delight!_ ”

“We better get on those switches,” I suggested. I jumped toward a switch on a platform while Batman grabbed a switch near the door. They triggered a platform to drop some vent sections.

“My turn,” called Ichigō. “Scale Keystone activate! Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” Gandalf brought the vent sections over to a vent that needed them. “Lessen scale of Gandalf!” Gandalf shrunk down and climbed the vent. When he came to a statue, he tried to push it over. “Enlarge scale of Gandalf,” directed Ichigō. Gandalf grew again and pushed a statue onto a neurotoxin generator. It was destroyed and revealed part of a box. Gandalf hopped down, making us shake, and headed to the other vent. “Lessen scale of Gandalf,” said Ichigō. Gandalf shrunk again and climbed the vent. When he appeared near the statue, “Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” he grew again. He pushed that statue and destroyed the last neurotoxin generator. “Normalize scale of Gandalf!” announced Ichigō. Gandalf went back to his normal size but looked queasy.

“I don’t think shrinking and growing the same person is good for their stomach,” he groaned. Batman took care of shutting down the energy shield generator. Once we got that done, we headed to the large courtyard. The energy shield was down. “The way forward has now opened,” observed Gandalf. “Who knows what lies beyond?” Claw automatically canceled her transformation and returned to being Sheela as she fell to the floor, panting.

“We’re not going anywhere until we’ve had a breather!” panted Sheela.

“Go ahead and relax,” called the Riddler. “I’ll wait.”

“Your mistake, Nigma,” hissed Batman.

“Nigma?” I asked.

“Edward Nigma,” answered Batman. I saw the pun in his name. “He’s obsessed with riddles and mind games. He was so intelligent that he figured out my alter-ego.”

“He knows you?” I quizzed.

“I pointed out that if he told the world,” continued Batman, “he would solve the riddle and there would be no point.

“How insane is he?” I asked.

“He’s one of Arkham’s inmates,” elaborated Batman.

“Arkham?” asked Gandalf.

“The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane,” explained Batman. “A psychiatric hospital for people who commit crimes because they’re not right in the head.”

“A place to put the crazies until they’re ready to be normal citizens again,” I simplified for Gandalf.

“I see,” said Gandalf, nodding in understanding.

“So, how often have people escaped from Arkham?” I asked Batman.

“Security’s so bad,” he replied, “I’m surprised the staff don’t remind the inmates to use the sign in sheet when they return.”

“Are they functioning on ancient security methods?” I queried.

“No,” answered Batman, “they use the most advanced security measures that they can, given their…limited resources.”

“Not everyone has your tech,” I reminded him.

“…I know,” conceded Batman.

“What about you, Sōji-san?” I asked. “You seem Hell-bent on destroying the Worms.”

“It was the Worms that killed my parents,” explained Sōji. Batman seemed to understand him to a degree.

“I’m not sure I can fully support the death of an entire race because a group from said race killed your parents,” he mused.

“Wasn’t it a mugger that killed yours?” I asked. Batman flinched but stayed on his course.

“That mugger had appropriate justice dealt to him,” answered Batman. “I saw to it myself. He’s in prison for life.”

“And you’re content with that?” observed Sōji. “Don’t you fight other criminals?”

“I fight so no one has to go through what I did,” replied Batman.

“As do I,” answered Sōji.

“I suppose if things went differently,” mused Batman, “I could have been exactly like you.”

“Moving on,” I interjected. “Batman, is there a reason the Riddler wants to place riddles around here?”

“The answers to the riddles usually result in the answer to his master plan,” explained Batman.

“A riddle within a riddle,” I guessed.

“Exactly,” confirmed Batman.

“I best use that power against him,” chuckled Lukas.

“You can solve it?” I asked.

“I’m an engineer,” boasted Lukas. “No riddle can be locked forever, aside from paradoxes.”

“Everyone all rested up?” I asked. They nodded. “Let’s go!” I declared. My mind also poured over the riddles as well as Lukas’

_This is cast, but not a stone. It flees from light. The dark, its home._

_What breathes, dances, and bakes, yet has no lungs, legs, or cakes?_

_Deep below, veiled from sight, it dwells where Dwarves find their delight!_

What are the answers and how do they connect?!


	32. Chapter 32

Dear Lord, the courtyard on the cliff was in utter ruin. Fire peppered once green grass patches. Purple question marks were scrawled on statues. A troll snoozed in front of the Tower of Ecthelion. The White Tree was bare. Orcs and Worms were playing games. Some kneeled mockingly at us. “Sōji-san,” I gulped, “did your grandmother say anything about destruction?”

“She did say this,” replied Sōji. “Destruction is evil when used incorrectly. When used correctly, something beautiful emerges.”

“I rather think this is the former option,” mused Gandalf. Wyldstyle looked at some green graffiti.

“Riddle…me…this?” she read.

“Why, I’m only too happy to, little lady!” called the Riddler’s voice. “Well, I guess you DO deserve another go. So, riddle…me…this!” He then gave his riddles again.

_The first is cast, but not a stone. It flees from light, the dark, its home._

_The second breathes, dances, and bakes, yet has no lungs, legs, or cakes._

_Third’s deep below, veiled from sight. It dwells where dwarves find their delight._

“It’s okay,” called Wyldstyle as she whipped out her phone. “I got this. The dark, my home…”

“Fräulein Wyldstyle, no!” wailed Lukas.

“Oh, come on, no signal?!” protested Wyldstyle as her phone beeped.

“Serves you right!” hissed Sheela.

“Cast…” muttered Gandalf. “…Flees from light…could it be a shadow?”

“Yeah,” agreed Batman. “And the third one sounds like a mine.”

“Dwarves work in mines?” asked Sōji.

“Middle-Earth Dwarves and Snow White’s Dwarves do,” I replied. Lukas got an idea.

“Wait, could the second one be fire?” he asked.

“He’s right,” muttered Sheela as she adjusted her gloves nervously. “Fire ‘breathes’ air and flames kind of dance.

“Shadow,” I mused.

“A mine,” pondered Wyldstyle.

“Fire,” muttered Gandalf. A horrible thought struck the wizard, then I remembered something and got the same idea.

“Wasn’t there a creature in a mine that was wreathed in shadow and flame?” I gulped.

“Ooh!” called a voice. Gollum then popped between Sheela and me. “We knows it! We knows it! Shut up!”

“Nobody said anything,” said a confused Batman.

“Wasn’t talking to you!” hissed Gollum. I pulled Sōji, Batman, Wyldstyle, and Hongo aside to explain Gollum’s condition.

“All that loneliness just for a piece of jewelry?” asked Sōji.

“You didn’t see the power the original owner had with said jewelry on,” I muttered, remembering Sauron in Metropolis.

“The Ring really IS a device of evil,” sighed Hongo, pitying Gollum.

“Moving on from that,” muttered Sōji. Rude! “you and Gandalf found the answers and connected them, what is it?”

“If I’m right,” I gulped, “Durin’s Bane is behind those doors.” Lukas and Sheela understood what I meant.

“A fallen Maiar spirit bound to the will of the first Dark Lord, Melkor, later called Morgoth,” gulped Lukas.

“Not that thing!” wailed Sheela.

“Hongo-san, you met this creature after pursuing Batman,” I reminded him. Hongo then remembered.

“You mean…” he gulped. The doors to the Tower burst open! The Troll and Gollum were sent flying! A bunny hopped out!

“…A bunny?” asked Wyldstyle.

“No, no, no!” I snapped. “Not the Killer Rabbit!”

“Ah, _Monty Python_ ,” sighed Sheela. That’s when the bunny hopped off to reveal the REAL danger. The creature burst through the doorway, destroying it. It was wreathed in shadow and flame, and the F.N.S met it before. The Riddler was sitting in a chair on its back.

“A Balrog of Morgoth!” called Gandalf.

“That thing again?” hissed Batman. “Didn’t it fall down a big hole?” That was when a metal thing tripped us up and flew into an Orc’s hand. It turned out to be a metal Praying Mantis.

“The Kiri Zecter,” explained the Orc. “Taken from the word Kamikiri, the Japanese word for Praying Mantis. A Zecter of Vortech’s design. Now, it belongs to me, Gorshagh” He then pointed the rear of his Zecter to his left. “Henshin!” He slid the Zecter into the belt, rear first.

“Henshin!” repeated the Kiri Zecter. The armor that appeared had arm cannons under the forearm, a triangular helmet, and triangular shoulder pads.

“Kamen Rider Kiri,” introduced Gorshagh. “Cast in the name of Darkness, ye guilty. The sentence,” he then slid his finger across his neck, “off with your heads!”

“Vortech won’t win this one!” declared Hongo as he got into his pose. We got out our i.d tags and Sōji’s Zecter flew into his hand. “Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced.

“Henshin!” repeated the Kabuto Zecter.

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“Obaachan ga itteita, ten no michi o iki, subete o tsukasadoru otoko. Ore no na wa…Tendō…Sōji, Kamen Rider…Kabuto.”

“And I am the Riddler!” called Mr. Nigma. “Congratulations on solving my riddle! You’ve just won-first class tickets…to the afterlife!” The Balrog roared. “Oh, I hope you like my new pet! Watch out for his fiery temper!”

“This is no joke, Riddler!” warned Batman as he dodged the Balrog’s fist. “That thing is dangerous! Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan…”

“No, you don’t!” yelled Kiri. He moved his Zecter’s arms up, making the armor come off a little. “Cast Off!” He extended the arms and put them to the left of his belt strap.

“Cast Off!” repeated the Kiri Zecter. The armor flew off and hit us. Kabuto shielded his visor as the armor bounced off his. When we picked ourselves up, the slimmer form was bright green, the eyes were red, there were orbs for mantis eyes, and the gun barrels were handles for reverse grip swords on his forearms. “Change Mantis!” announced the Kiri Zecter.

“Clock Up!” called Kiri as he slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up!” repeated his Zecter.

“Not today! Cast Off!” shouted Kabuto as he swung the horn towards his right.

“Cast Off: Change Beetle!” announced the Zecter.

“Clock Up!” called Kabuto as he slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up!” repeated his Zecter. Both Riders vanished. I could guess what Kabuto’s doing now. Batman continued without interruption.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced again. “Cyan, on the leftmost roof of the tower! Magenta, on the balcony below the roof! Yellow, near the base of the tower! Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” Gandalf landed on the roof and started using his magic to throw things at the Balrog. The Balrog caught one, then another, and Gandalf was about to throw one more when…

“Hello, sweeties!” called a high-pitched voice. It was Discornia! She was underneath Gandalf!

“Batman!” yelped Kämpfer.

“Shift! Kämpfer! Magenta!” announced Batman. Kämpfer was taken to the balcony.

“Clock Over!” announced the voices of the Zecters. Kabuto and Kiri were still locked in combat. They were on the same balcony as Kämpfer and Discornia. While the two Zecter Riders were fighting, Discornia spoke to Kämpfer.

“You wouldn’t hit little, helpless me, would you?” she spoke in a disarming tone. I beamed her name and status over to Kämpfer.

“I don’t want to,” he sighed, “but I have no choice. I WILL defend myself.”

“Your gentleman credentials are at stake,” warned Discornia.

“I pray that I am forgiven for this,” muttered Kämpfer. He then went on the offensive. He swung his sword, but Discornia blocked with her staff. She then swung the staff with the disco balls on either end flashing. She started laughing, but Kämpfer scored a punch to her shoulder. She started rubbing it.

“You WOULD hit a lady!” she snapped. “In all seriousness, how are you still fighting?! My staff should have blinded you!”

“You forget that we liberated your fiancée,” reminded Kämpfer.

“That traitor!” hissed Discornia. “He told you about my staff and you updated the helmets with automatic light adjustments!”

“I only mentioned your future husband and you put two and two together,” mused Kämpfer, “you’re more clever than you let on.” Discornia then started fighting with the fury of a wild lemur. Kämpfer stayed on the defensive until he saw the slave chip on her shoulder. He then used a palm strike on her chin, knocking her off balance and slashed at the chip with his sword. It exploded and knocked her out. When it was confirmed she was alive, Kämpfer knelt and clasped his hands in prayer. “Almighty God,” he prayed, “please understand, I had no choice but to strike. My life was on the line. These were not normal circumstances. She was not herself and I had to get her out of the spell Vortech had used. I pray for your forgiveness even if I do not receive Discornia’s.” He then turned to Discornia. “Madame, I apologize for striking you, but I had no choice. I pray you can forgive me.” He then heard the Riddler cry out in pain.

“Hey, that hurt! A lot!” he whined as he got rubble off of the Balrog and himself. The Balrog then knocked Gandalf off the roof. Kabuto and Kiri fell, but continued their fight once they were on the ground. Gandalf used his magic to land safely, dodging the Balrog’s fists on the way down. Wyldstyle then managed to see something, specifically, Chroma Discs.

“Well,” she said, grinning, “what can you offer to beat the Balrog? Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma Lock, reveal! Chroma! Red! Royal!” I jumped into the red paint and Wyldstyle directed me to the circle. “Chroma! Yellow! Gandalf!” A paint covered Gandalf was told to stand in the right L-shape. “Chroma! Blue! Ichigō!” Ichigō stood in the left L-shape. The Chroma Lock opened a door on the right side of the tower that unleashed the troops of Minas Tirith. They swarmed the Balrog and climbed to get to the Riddler. He screamed like a little girl!

“Get them off, get them off of me!” he shrieked. The Balrog shook the troops off.

“Well, it slowed him down,” I observed.

“I see a way to slow him down a little more!” called Ichigō. “Scale Keystone, activate! Lessen scale of Batman!” Batman shrunk and saw a vent for him to climb. He got in and went to the top. He then fired his grapple gun and undid the locks on some speakers. They started playing music.

_Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team!_

_Everything is awesome when you’re living out a dream!_

“WHAT IS THAT NOISE!?” shouted Kiri. He was on the ground, writhing in pain and holding his ears. His Zecter automatically ejected and he transformed back into Gorshagh.

“THIS IS TOO MUCH!” wailed Wyldstyle as she covered her ears. I was dancing along. “MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!” said Wyldstyle. The Balrog listened to her and smashed the speakers.

“My ears!” cried the Riddler. “What was that horrible, HORRIBLE noise!?”

“Hey, I like that song!” I called.

“Grandmother said this,” waxed Kabuto. “Good music must never be interrupted. It leads to discontent.”

“Well, your grandmother wouldn’t know good music if it bit her in her rear!” snapped the Riddler.

“All right, just for that,” I called, “I’ll find something to teach you to insult a friend’s family! Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!”

“No, you don’t!” roared Gorshagh. He grabbed the Kiri Zecter again and a device that had a big red button and a small lever on top. “Henshin!”

“Henshin!” repeated the Zecter. After the armor appeared, he moved the front legs again.

“Cast Off!” shouted Kiri.

“Cast Off: Change Mantis!” announced the Zecter as the armor flew.

“Is that a…Hyper Zecter?” asked Kabuto. “Funny, I have one too.” He then drew out the same device and attached it to the left of his belt, with the lever pointing up. “Hyper Cast Off!” called Kabuto. Kiri did the same.

“Hyper Cast Off!” announced Kiri. Both Riders pushed the lever down.

“Hyper Cast Off!” repeated the Hyper Zecters. Armor appeared on both Riders, giving them a slightly bulkier appearance.

“Change Hyper Beetle!” called Kabuto’s Zecter.

“Change Hyper Mantis!” announced Kiri’s Zecter.

“Hyper Clock Up!” shouted both Riders. They slapped the red buttons on their respective new Zecters.

“Hyper Clock Up!” repeated both Zecters. They both vanished.

“With that out of the way,” I muttered as I found the rift near the courtyard edge, “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “I’ve…never heard of you,” I mumbled. Oh well. “Locate help from L-3-G-3-N-D-5-0-F-C-H-1-M-4!” I said. A caterpillar treaded tank with arms and a lion motif came into this universe. The pilot poked his head out. It was a male anthropomorphic lion in armor and a blue cape. He had a crown on his head and had a red mane. The poor guy looked confused.

“Where am I?!” he yelped. “Who are you?!” He heard the Balrog roar. He turned to see it prepare to swipe at him. “On second thought, I’ll find out later. It’s time for the Fire Lion to fire!” A missile array launched its arsenal at the Balrog. It knelt to the ground as the “Fire Lion” ran over it.

“What’s your name?!” I asked the pilot, then mentally chided myself for being rude.

“Laval, prince of the Lion Tribe,” introduced the lion. “You?”

“Megumi Hishikawa, Princess of the Feudal Nerd Society and leader of the Vortex Riders! Known throughout the multiverse as Kamen Rider Royal!” I replied

“Then I hope we meet again!” called Laval as a portal opened for him.

“Where’d THAT come from?!” wailed the Riddler. “You’re not playing fair!” The Balrog then went to the cliff part of the courtyard. “Enough play, it’s time for a classic showdown!”

“Get back here, Riddler!” shouted Batman as we pursued the Balrog.

“We need to douse the Balrog,” I realized. “Gandalf, if you please?”

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” called Gandalf. “Element of Water, Gandalf!” Gandalf then sprayed water on the Balrog. It then turned its back on us.

“He’s hurt himself! Keep it up!” encouraged Batman.

“Guys, there’s an electric coil on the back of the chair!” Wyldstyle pointed out.

“Element of lightning, Wyldstyle!” announced Gandalf. Wyldstyle made the chair overload. Apparently, that was a mind control device for the Balrog. It thrashed in pain. “Take that, servant of Morgoth!” said Gandalf. The Balrog then bucked the Riddler off as it fell over the cliff face and onto the buildings below. Gollum saw this.

“Good!” he hissed. Durin’s Bane was picked up while the Riddler kept a black stone to his chest. We advanced on the lunatic.

“Riddle me this,” asked Batman, “what drink hurts the most?”

“Really hot coffee?” guessed the Riddler.

“Anyone else?” asked Batman.

“Punch!” snarled a voice. It was Discornia. She punched the Riddler. She was free! The blow sent him near the edge and letting go of the stone. The Riddler’s flailing made his loosen some dirt.

“My poor eyeses!” wailed Gollum’s voice. The Riddler regained his balance. Kiri and Kabuto reappeared.

“Hyper Clock Over!” called the Zecters. Both Riders were winded.

“That’s it!” snarled Kiri. He moved the lever down again. Kabuto did the same.

“Maximum Rider Power!” announced the Zecters. Kabuto pressed the buttons while Kiri pressed a button on the abdomen of his Zecter three times. “One! Two! Three!” counted the Zecters.

“Hyper Kick!” called Kabuto.

“Hyper Crusher!” roared Kiri. His blades came to his hands in a reverse grip.

“Rider Kick!” announced Kabuto’s Zecter.

“Rider Crusher!” called Kiri’s Zecter. Kiri raised his blades, leaving his stomach open for Kabuto’s kick. The attack went straight and true and Kiri lost his suit again. Gorshagh stumbled into the Riddler. They were near the edge, trying to keep us away.

“Keep back! Don’t come any closer!” wailed the Riddler. He then felt something on his leg. “What the?!” Gollum then pulled the Riddler off. The Riddler then grabbed Gorshagh and they all tumbled before a Fell Beast picked them up. They went through a portal. Batman punched the wall near Gandalf in frustration as Gandalf lowered the stone in his hand.

“You almost shattered the Palantír, Batman!” rebuked the wizard.

“Almost,” countered Batman as he took it and put it in his cowl.

“Guys, our ride home is about to depart!” called Wyldstyle.

“Drop the Palantír and turn around slowly!” hissed a voice. I sighed.

“I don’t have time to play, Hiro,” I groaned as I turned. “So, I need you to…explain that!!” Hiro had taken a different form. He looked more like an anthropomorphic tiger with machinery sticking out! He had the Shocker Buckle underneath the Rogue Driver.

“Impressive, is it not?” quizzed the Rogue Driver.

“Hiro, what did you do to yourself?!” I asked.

“I’ve obtained this form when I joined Shocker,” explained Hiro. “Tora-otoko (Tiger-man), I’m called. Unimaginative, yes, but it serves.”

“I’ve never fought anyone with a tiger motif,” said Ichigō.

“I’ve never fought you or Ichimonji,” replied Hiro.

“So, why are you here?” I asked.

“The Palantír,” hissed Hiro. “Hand it over!”

“Suppose we refuse?” I asked. He then drew out his i.d tag.

“This, I HAVE to see,” mused Ichigō.

“Henshin,” announced Hiro. He then became Kamen Rider Rogue. He then entered his Super Charge sequence. “Super Charge.” After that new suit formed, he started a new movement that extended his hands. “Dai Super Charge,” he said. His bulkier armor flew off. We got out of the way to see a new suit. It was purple with black tiger stripes. My heart sank.

“That’s not…” I uttered.

“You see the kind of power you could have had?!” called Rogue, er, Proto-Rift, er… “What you see before you is the combination of Shocker Cyborg and the true Rift Driver. You now look upon Kamen Rider Rift!”

“How does that concern me?” I asked.

“Have you ever wondered why I left you to the streets?” quizzed the newly-christened Rift.

“…Not as often as I should, judging by the tone,” I gulped.

“Well, how do you suppose you’re so strong?” asked Rift.

“Well, from my parents, obviously!” I declared.

“Right, and which parent DID you get that strength from?” asked Rift.

“…I don’t wanna ask,” I said weakly.

“Here’s the thing,” continued Rift, “cyborgs of my caliber are still very much fertile.”

“I don’t…” I began.

“The fact is,” interrupted Rift, “when Shocker makes a cyborg, they alter everything, even the genitals. Some of the cyborgs were naturally occurring between a mother and father cyborg. Granted, they were old when you fought them, Hongo, but it still served to prove our science. The cyborg parents had nanobots that would make cybernetics once the baby was out of the mother’s womb and would alter the genes to make an animal based cyborg. After that, they went through hellish training to be the strongest there was. One thing was never tested, reproduction between a cyborg and a normal human.”

“Wait, but…” I gulped, fearing the worst.

“So, when I escaped the destruction of Shocker,” continued Rift, “I went to your universe, married a woman, I wasn’t about to have a baby out of wedlock and rape was out of the question.”

“Good to know you have SOME morals!” I muttered, my fear dying off.

“In any case,” continued Rift, “after her death, I left you in the streets so you would understand your beast side. However, you made one costly mistake! You accepted help from someone beneath you! Sadly, I couldn’t just shoot you, there would have been too many questions. So, I took the legal route and contested Haruna for possession of you.”

“That went pear-shaped for you and you were tried and found guilty of murder,” recalled Lukas.

“Now, be honest,” quizzed Rift, “should you really accept the help of a lesser being?”

“…I’m going home,” I said as I cancelled my transformation. I saw what he was trying to do.

“I’m sorry, the wind up here is a bit loud. What did you just say?!” growled Rift.

“I’m going home, back to Vorton,” I elaborated.

“Okay,” muttered Rift, “I’m confused. Vorton isn’t your home universe.”

“It’s got my friends, the people that make me stronger,” I countered. “That’s home to me. I don’t wanna fight someone like you. You’re a boring, sad, and bitter old man. You try to make me question my life and humanity. I still feel like a human. The fact that I’m a naturally occurring cyborg hasn’t changed that I’m Megumi Hishikawa. These are still my friends. The fact that they’re not running in terror shows that they don’t care about my biology either. We’re leaving.”

“But, we didn’t fight!” protested Rift. “I didn’t swing a punch at you yet! This isn’t a proper show of power! This is…I don’t even know what it is!”

“It’s called robbing you of satisfaction,” explained Ichigō as he cancelled his transformation. Kämpfer, Kabuto, and Claw followed suit.

“Grandmother said this,” waxed Sōji. “One that drowns in oneself will eventually fall to darkness.”

“You ARE a sad man,” sighed Lukas.

“I must disagree with the ‘man’ bit,” argued Sheela.

“Yeah, that DOES sound like a man-child,” replied Discornia.

“We’re going home and taking the Palantír and Discornia with us,” I declared as I summoned our rides to fall into the Vortex. “I’m sure Turretorg will want to see you.”

“You little s**t!” snarled Rift. “I can NOT believe that you’re walking away from this! You need to know what power you’ve denied yourself! SO, GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME!”

“You’ve lost the right to order me when you left me on the streets!” I roared as I mounted my steed. “Vortex Riders, we’re leaving!” And leave with the Palantír and Discornia, we did. We drove off the cliff and fell into the vortex. I heard Rift roar in frustration when we went through.


	33. Chapter 33

We arrived back on Vorton. X-PO and the rest headed towards us. “Did you obtain the Foundation Element?” asked X-PO. Batman handed the Palantír over. “Ah, very nice!” cheered X-PO. “Magic Orb, will our heroes succeed and save all known dimensions from certain doom?” He then shook it as if it were a magic 8 ball. “‘Ask again later’, huh.”

“Alright, X-PO,” rasped Batman, eager to get down to business, “less magic-ball talking, more Foundation Element grabbing. Where to, next?”

“I worry about him sometimes,” whispered Gandalf.

“Batman, we just escaped from fighting the Balrog again,” I protested. “We’re taking a rest.” I then turned to Discornia, only to discover that she wasn’t near us. “Uh, where’s our newly-freed Tarlaxian?” I asked. I then heard giggling to my rear. I turned to see Discornia and Turretorg twirling each other with Turretorg holding Discornia above him. “Never mind,” I remarked.

“It’s so good to see you, Torgy!” giggled Discornia as she was set down. I then realized how much taller she was than Turretorg.

“It does my hearts good to see you again, sweet Corny,” cheered Turretorg.

“Hearts?” I asked, ignoring their pet names for each other.

“Tarlaxians have 4 hearts,” explained X-PO.

“Pardon us for a bit,” excused Discornia, “we have some catching up to do, maybe get a little intimate.” You and I can both guess the subtext there.

“Just…keep the noise down,” I sighed. They headed off.

“Did Tanisha head off on an adventure?” asked Sheela.

“Why, yes,” replied Emily. “To the _Portal_ world. Why?”

“When I used the Locate Keystone,” I explained, “I heard Tanisha tell Wheatley to shut up.”

“So, YOU sucked up the giant turret,” called a familiar Swahili voice. Tanisha arrived through the Gateway with a woman in a ponytail, a white tank top, orange pants, and an orange sweatshirt tied around her waist. She was carrying some sort of white device with a light on top and a three-pronged claw at the front. Wheatley was there as well.

“Ah, there you are!” cheered the annoying ball. “I brought your friend back, all thanks to my ingenious and clever…place finding…thingies.”

“That reminds me,” grumbled Tanisha, “back you go!” She threw Wheatley into the vortex.

“NO! GRAB ME! GRAB ME! GRAB ME!” wailed Wheatley. Too late, the portal had closed.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet the protagonist of the _Portal_ series, Chell,” introduced Tanisha. Chell smiled and bowed.

“You used a hard ‘Ch’,” noted Emily. Chell then made a series of hand movements. I assume it was sign language.

“I hate to say it, Chell,” explained Tanisha, “but as far as I know, only I know sign language.” Chell frowned. “What she said,” Tanisha told us, “was that I told her about our bet, Emily. It IS a hard ‘Ch’.” Emily sat down and pouted comically. She then turned to me.

“You’re smirking!” she observed.

“I do not smirk,” I countered. “But, if I did, this would be a perfect opportunity.”

“How was I supposed to know that Chell’s name was pronounced that way?!” protested Emily. Chell signed again.

“You might have asked,” translated Tanisha, “before mocking Tanisha and allowing her to up the stakes of a simple $10 bet.”

“I didn’t lose that much,” muttered Emily.

“$500,” I remarked, “I hope you have it.

“I have it!” assured Emily. “Well…most of it. Your Highness…”

“No,” I said, guessing her request.

“…Fine, I’ll borrow the money from Joshua,” hissed Emily. “He LIKES me.”

“There’s an interest rate,” reminded Joshua. Emily sighed.

“You can pay me when you have it,” assured Tanisha. “So, your Highness, how did the hunt go?”

“They got the Foundation Element of Middle-Earth,” called Joshua.

“It was the Palantír,” I explained.

“I see you’ve brought Tendō Sōji here,” observed Hiroki.

“And we fought Worms disguised as Orcs,” I continued.

“Worms?” yelped Hiroki. “Sōji-san, I thought you destroyed them all!”

“I thought I did too,” agreed Sōji. “I guess some survived.”

“We also learned something about your sister not even SHE knew,” remembered Hongo. He gave me the floor and I told everyone what went down in Minas Tirith.

“A cyborg of Shocker design? You?” gulped Hiroki.

“That’s troubling,” muttered Emmanuel.

“Is it, really?” quizzed Tanisha.

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“Hiro became Kamen Rider Rift because of his own alterations, right?” guessed Tanisha. “To do that, he had to adapt to having tiger DNA, right?”

“Right,” I confirmed.

“And you said you had help from Laval, right?” quizzed Tanisha. “I know what series he’s from. Believe it or not, I have his Lego series, _Legends of Chima_. I’ve also watched the cartoon that came from that. I know Chima like the back of my hand.”

“I’ve also got some of the Lego sets,” interjected Tonje. “I can help too.”

“There’s also a Foundation Element there,” reported X-PO.

“And I know of a wild Kamen Rider,” supplied Hiroki, “from the Showa Era.”

“You mean, Daisuke Yamamoto?” quizzed Hongo.

“Kamen Rider Amazon, himself,” confirmed Hiroki.

“Problem:” interjected X-PO, “we’ve got another Foundation Element in another universe near Chima’s.” I then started planning.

“What does the identifier string call that universe?” I asked.

“J-U-R-4-5-5-1-C-P-4-R-K,” replied X-PO.

“Jurassic Park?!” said Emily, excitedly. “Let me go! Please! Please! Please!” She was as giddy as a child.

“I wanna go too!” pleaded Richard.

“Permit me to go as well,” requested Mikhail.

“I’ll go with Mikhail,” rumbled Irina.

“I must undo the wrong I committed a while ago,” begged Michael. “Let me go there to fix my mistake.” Richard and Mikhail nodded in agreement.

“I’d love to see any marine dinosaurs!” cheered Livia.

“I must admit, I want to see a T-Rex myself,” mused Haitao.

“Then, here’s what we’re going to do,” I decided. “Hongo, you’re to go back to your universe to find Amazon, explain the situation, and then you two are to join me, Batman, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, Tonje, and Tanisha in Chima to find the Foundation Element and to help me unlock my mutant cyborg form, thus getting me closer to becoming Kamen Rider Vortex. Emily, you’re to lead Richard, Mikhail, Irina, Michael, Livia, and Haitao to Jurassic Park to get the Foundation Element there. Hiroki, you are to guard the place with Xiomara, Joshua, Lukas, Sheela, and Emmanuel and help Elphaba, Rusty, and the Brigadier when needed. Sōji, do you wish to stay here for a bit?”

“Unfortunately,” replied Sōji, “I need to get home. I’m still improving my cooking skills in Paris. I must go at once.”

“Then, farewell,” I bid. “I hope to see you soon.”

“Before I go, do you know anything about these?” called Sōji. He revealed a pouch of studs. “I found them in the fields outside Minas Tirith before you arrived.”

“That’s currency for Vorton,” I answered.

“Useless where I’m from, then,” remarked Sōji. “Catch!” I caught it and opened it.

“280,000 studs,” counted Vortoranii. “That makes 1,505,000 studs.”

“Don’t forget mine,” called Tanisha. “I swiped these before Chell and I beat GLaDOS again.” She tossed me a pouch. I opened that one.

“110,000 studs,” counted Vortoranii, “making it 1,615,000 studs in total. We need to spend some of them!”

“Goodbye!” called Sōji. He went through the portal X-PO opened for him.

“Chell, do you want to return home?” I asked. Chell shook her head furiously. “Okay, that’s a no. Alright then, why don’t you two tell us your story?”

* * *

“Now, the whole thing is simple,” I explained to the mercenary, “I need you to hunt down my daughter and kill her. She’s proven to be a major irritant to me and my employer. Kill her, and ten billion dollars are yours.”

“Oooh, see,” winced my potential assassin, “there’s a problem with that; I’m not really one to get into blood feuds. I’ve got enough of that back home.”

“There’s also unlimited chimichangas for you,” I offered.

“Oh, twist my arm, why don’t you?” said the man in mock pain. “Well, congrats! You’ve just hired the most awesome merc ever! Toodles!” He sped off to find his prey.

“He’s going to fail,” rumbled Lord Vortech.

“I’m counting on that,” I assured. “Megumi will undoubtedly head for Chima to find the next Foundation Element as well as train up her beast side. That is where I will be with the selected hostages.”

“And what of our new ally?” asked Vortech

“His beast mode should provide him with an edge in the Jurassic Park world,” I elaborated. “Even so, I’m sending Igura there as well. He needs her.”

“Do not come back empty handed,” warned Vortech.

“Me?” I queried. “Don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Isn’t that TWO words?” asked the Riddler.

“You would know,” I snapped. “Or, did the Palantír in Denethor’s possession turn up?”

“I would have gone back and reclaimed it had YOU not interfered!” snarled the Riddler.

“Why you!” I exclaimed.

“Enough!” boomed Vortech. “Hiro, your interference and boasting to your daughter has caused her to try to find another way to access Kamen Rider Vortex’s power. If she does, you will be held responsible for giving the enemy an advantage.”

“Lord Vortech,” I protested, “I was simply trying to drive her to despair! Being a cyborg of Shocker’s design caused Hongo to loath himself for a while! He overcame that because it was early in his Rider career! Megumi is a child! She should have…!”

“Megumi is not Hongo!” shouted Vortech. “She is inventive, in case you forgot! She has experts of certain dimensions at her beck and call! She WILL find victory out of this! This hostage exchange had better work. If not, and she gets the Foundation Element and the hostages, you will be working under General Zod when we get the Foundation Element of Universe G-H-0-5-T-8-U-5-T-3-R-5-1-9-8-4.”

“…Understood,” I gulped not enjoying the prospect one bit.


	34. Chapter 34

This was a few minutes after you left, your Highness. As we shuffled off to do our own thing, Tonje and I headed to the top of Vorton. On top, there are multiple gateways to different dimensions spread out over two levels. We usually go there just to get some alone time. We sat up top, our feet dangling over the edge. I had a blanket with me as the upper levels are pretty cold. I wrapped us up and we leaned into each other. After a few minutes of just staring out into space, we had a quick smooch. We were about to wrap our arms around each other when an alarm went off. At least it happened AFTER we kissed. We darted down to the Gateway room to see Hiroki, Rusty, and X-PO there as well. “X-PO,” called Hiroki, “what’s the problem?”

“Unlawful experiments in vortex technology, that’s what!” reported X-PO. “The psycho A.I of Dimension P-0-R-T-4-L had caught on to how we travel through the vortex!”

“GLaDOS? With our tech? How?” yelped Tonje.

“Probably from when Hiro was in that universe last,” I mused.

“And with that universe claimed as enemy territory and given how close it is to us,” replied X-PO, “we’re sitting ducks!”

“Tanisha, I need you and Emily to stop GLaDOS now!” directed Hiroki

“Emily is busy with Emmanuel and Joshua in their medical practice,” reported Tonje. “Let me go with her.”

“I can’t have someone with little to no experience of a certain universe stumbling around,” said Hiroki, a little harsh, may I say. “Tanisha, since time is of the essence, you must go now.”

“But, what about backup?” I protested.

“There’s no time. You need to go,” directed Hiroki.

“But…!” I floundered.

“Thank you, that will be all!” snapped Hiroki with finality in his voice.

“Tanisha, you can handle GLaDOS,” assured Tonje. “You’ve done so in the games and in real life. You can do it again.” I released a breath.

“All right,” I replied. “Open a rift.”

“I obey!” obliged Rusty. He plugged in and got to work. “Target coordinates set! Proceed!” I jumped into the rift.

When I landed, I was in a storage facility. I made my way to a Test Chamber door and heard GLaDOS’ voice. “Well, well, well, look who’s back,” she droned. “You must love science almost as much as me. Which is good news because I’ve almost finished rebuilding the test chambers after Wheatley’s incompetence.”

“Hello?” called a voice I came to loathe! “Did someone say my name?”

“YOU!” hissed GLaDOS.

“Hiya!” said Wheatley. “Yeah, it’s me! Um…can I…do you mind me saying, I love those new blue portally things, they’re yours, right? Anyway, I have been on quite an adventure. Look at this, I even got fitted with anti-gravity!” It was then I saw the giant turret go into a rift. “Check this out, I can move up! And I can move down, opposite of up! Uuuup! Look at that! Doooown! Up-down-up-down! Up-down! Up-down! Left and right probably as well.”

“Wheatley, shut up!” I accidentally said aloud.

“Who was that?” asked GLaDOS. I was confused.

“Weren’t you talking to me earlier?” I quizzed.

“Oh, the huntress,” moaned GLaDOS. “No, I was talking to an unloved mute.” I then realized Chell was here. I opened the door and joined Wheatley and Chell.

“Hey! I remember you!” called Wheatley. “You’re that…Rider…thingy…that rides…the vortex! Yeah! You didn’t see me show off the anti-grav, so…”

“Be quiet!” barked GLaDOS.

“Oh dear,” muttered Wheatley, not listening. “Someone booted up on the wrong side of the BIOS this morning, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You test my patience,” hissed GLaDOS.

“Whatever patience you have,” I said to myself.

“What are YOU doing back here?” GLaDOS demanded of me. “Haven’t you caused enough damage already?”

“GLaDOS, it’s come to my attention that you’re experimenting in rift technology,” I hissed. “Surrender it at once. That kind of power is not to be trifled with!”

“After the damage you and your friends caused, I think I am owed this technology,” replied GLaDOS. “You, on the other hand, owe me a lot of testing.” It was then that the Test Chamber sign turned on and showed it as Test Chamber 89.

“Of course, you won’t surrender it,” I muttered.

“Well,” mused Wheatley, “as I really don’t know how I got back here, what we should do is crack on with these tests and try and retake over the faci…I mean, escape, by that, what I mean is escape, just…yeah…just escape. Let’s get going.”

“That kind of power is intoxicating, isn’t it?” I observed. Chell then tapped my shoulder.

“Can you use Sign Language?” she signed.

“Fluently,” I signed back. She grinned.

“You have no idea how refreshing it is to meet you,” she signed. “That stupid computer kept calling me all sorts of names and I knew she would just shrug off what I was saying if I used sign language. She would make bad charades guesses, I bet.”

“So, you’re not deaf?” I asked.

“No,” she signed, “just mute. In any case, we have to beat her!”

“You read my mind!” I replied. “Quick question, though, is your name pronounced with a hard ‘Ch’ or a soft one?”

“Hard, why?” she signed. “And how do you know what my name starts with?”

“Someone owes me $500 dollars,” I explained. “And, to explain, I come from another universe where your exploits are done up in a computer game franchise called _Portal_.”

“My suffering was done up for entertainment?!” she signed.

“I’m afraid so,” I replied. “Let’s just beat GLaDOS and get you out of here.”

“Good idea,” she signed. “And I have a way.” She whipped out her portal gun and made an orange portal on a white panel near us and a blue portal near the top of a ledge. “After you,” she signed. I curtsied and went through the portal. Dear God, that was awesome! I then saw that the door was locked and required something. I went to the blue portal and spoke to Chell.

“We have a weight switch up here and no Companion Cube,” I reported. “Can you find one down there?”

“One minute,” signed Chell. She disappeared and I heard something fall. I then looked over the edge and saw her get a Companion Cube. She used the portal gun to grab it and went through the portal to get to where I am. She set the cube onto the switch, unlocking the door.

“And open sesame!” called Wheatley. “We really are quite the formidable team. I got the brains and beauty, and uh, you two are also involved.” I snorted. We went to the elevator and entered Test Chamber 90.

“Did I mention I’m still getting around to cleaning the facility up,” droned GLaDOS, “after Captain Moron nearly blew it up with his stupidity?”

“So, um, still a bit bitter about that, are we?” mumbled Wheatley. We went up a ramp to see the door connected by some new sort of panel. It looked like some sort of target.

“So, do we need a turret?” signed Chell.

“Yeah, let’s go ask one to shoot at that repeatedly,” I muttered. I then looked around to see if inspiration would come. My eyes then stopped on some part and a glimmer of an idea formed, then it went from glimmer to full blown idea, and then it took off. “Then again,” I mused, “we could make our own.” I drew out my i.d tag. “Henshin!” I said. I then went through the whole sequence and donned my persona as Kamen Rider Hunt.

“Erm, how’s that gonna help?” asked Wheatley.

“Thank you for proving GLaDOS’ point, you moron,” I hissed. I ignored Wheatley’s protests as I swapped out my i.d tag for a certain Master Builder’s.

“Wyldstyle Steel!” announced my belt. I then donned the Wyldstyle armor. Chell was surprised when she saw the whole sequence.

“Doesn’t it hurt when that…thing slams its sides onto you?” she signed.

“Not at all,” I answered. “There’s enough space for a human to stand in and then some.” I then took my fist to the parts, making them into Lego bricks, built a turret, and it solidified into the real thing. This one looked at Chell but didn’t fire on her. Chell looked at me. “I programmed Sign Language into it,” I assured. She then turned to the turret.

“Could you shoot that target?” she signed. The turret turned and fired repeatedly. It undid a door lock. Chell went up a ramp, fired an orange portal near her and a blue portal at a panel on a ledge across from her. She went through and saw a laser beam.

“That Thermal Discouragement Beam is not part of this test,” relayed GLaDOS, “please disregard it.” Chell did so and pressed a button that released an energy ball from the wall. It traveled to a socket and activated a ledge for the door, unlocked it, and allowed a panel to tilt down. She went through the portal again to join us before moving the blue portal to the panel above the door.

“Away we go!” I called.

“It appears that your unparalleled ability to solve even the simplest of tasks has not deteriorated,” droned GLaDOS. “You must be very proud of yourself.” We ignored that comment and went through the portal to use the elevator. I pressed the summon button on my belt and got the turret with us into the elevator. We traveled all the way to Test Chamber 91. There were rows of turrets along a large gap. Chell used the portal gun to get us across. She rode the turret through the portal, I was surprised it held up an average human’s weight, and I followed behind. Wheatley stayed, thankfully, silent. The turret found another target switch and Chell ordered it to fire. It let a panel tilt down, so Chell changed the orange portal’s position to the one on the newly tilted panel. She went through, then came to view again.

“There’s a weight switch up here,” she signed. “Is there a Companion Cube button down there?”

“You mean there’s none up there?” I asked. She shook her head. “Sorry,” I said as I cancelled my transformation, “there’s none here.” She folded her arms in annoyance.

“How are we supposed to solve this now?” she signed. A light went off in her head. “Can you try summoning the Companion Cube from the first test chamber?”

“I can try,” I muttered. I pressed the summon button and a Companion Cube popped up.

“Not another unknown variable!” wailed GLaDOS.

“Put up or shut up!” I called, swapping accents to the Brooklyn one I got when I moved to America. “Coming up!” I warned Chell. She got out the portal gun and I tossed it to her. She caught it and set it down on the switch. It activated some sort of energy transporter; the wiki calls it an Excursion Funnel. That was when Wheatley spoke.

“That over there looks interesting, doesn’t it? I would point, but, you know, no arms. We discussed it.” He muttered. We went into the energy beam and floated along it.

“Aperture Science cannot be held responsible,” reported GLaDOS, “for anything occurring as a result of leaping aimlessly into Excursion Funnels. These include (but are not limited to) missing limbs, unconsciousness, and in some extreme situations, thinking you can escape the testing facility.” When we landed, a ramp came up, leading us to the door. It was locked and needed a Companion Cube to open it. I summoned it and we got it onto the weight switch. The door opened and we entered the elevator. It was at that point Wheatley decided to talk.

“Look at us, eh?” he chuckled to Chell. “Like old times. Completing test chambers together…and…doing other things together. Yes sir!” He got a little too close to Chell. “The old band, back together. Back on the road. Playing the hits. Talking to the groupies and uhhh…you know…well, just talking to them.” Chell pointed her portal gun at Wheatley, then the elevator stopped. “Um, heh, one quick question,” asked Wheatley, “are elevators meant to do that? It’s just that I’ve not had much experience with them, on account of not having fingers for any button pressing, which seems quite fundamental if you want to move a lift…elevator.” The floor then opened up beneath us.

“No, and they’re not supposed to do that, either!” I yelped as I got my i.d tag out. “Henshin!” As I transformed, gravity caught up to us and we fell. Chell grabbed onto Wheatley and I grabbed Chell’s legs. “PULL US UP, YOU IDIOT!” I shouted. “YOU HAVE ANTI-GRAVITY!”

“Not enough…for all…three…of us!” strained Wheatley. He then sparked. “Oh bother!” he said. We fell again with Wheatley repeating “bother” over and over. We reached the end and landed as a cat would. Chell and I were lucky as we had shoes designed to soften the impact. Wheatley bounced to the bottom. “Cheers, thanks for catching me,” he said, sarcasm heavy on his voice. We looked around and saw a run-down place. I’d say we were below the facility.

“Oh,” droned GLaDOS, “you were in THAT elevator. I must not have got around to fixing that one yet. Whoops.”

“Oh! Old Aperture!” gulped Wheatley. “We’ve gotta get out of here, I’ve heard this place is full of vicious birds!”

“Can we leave him?” signed Chell.

“No, we need him,” I sighed. An intercom crackled to life.

“Cave Johnson here!” called the voice. “Remember me? C.E.O., I kind of own this place and, by extension, you. Anyway, here at Aperture Science, we want to push you beyond your limits in order to further mankind’s potential. Speaking of which, we also went beyond our bank account limits, so, until I can secure us a small, multi-billion dollar loan or government grant, just pretend that any leaking pipes or broken platforms are all part of the tests.” Speaking of leaking, blue goo was dripping from a pipe.

“Oh, the bouncy goo!” signed Chell. “What did Cave Johnson call it?”

“I think it’s called Repulsion Gel,” I guessed. “After you?” Chell then jumped down and bounced higher than she fell. She landed on a platform and waved me up. I indulged a bit as I cancelled my transformation and bounced up in my civilian form.

“You just wanted to bounce in a dress,” signed Chell.

“The F.N.S has a trampoline back at our castle,” I answered. “Sometimes we dress wearers indulge ourselves.” I then saw something. “What is this, Geonosis?” I quipped. There was a crusher blocking our path.

“I think we need the turret again,” signed Chell. She pointed out a target switch. I summoned the turret and it started firing on the switch. The crusher stopped and allowed us passage. There was a portal accepting floor at the bottom and another platform with an overhanging panel.

“Looks like we’ll have to take the plunge,” I replied.

“I couldn’t agree more,” signed Chell. She made a blue portal at the bottom and an orange portal at the overhanging panel. We then jumped into the orange portal and ended up on the platform across. We went through an energy barrier and saw a ledge that was too high up for us.

“My kingdom for Repulsion Gel,” I sighed. I then saw a blue tube over a platform and a tilting panel before the ledge. A switch could open the tube. “Maybe I DON’T need to go that far,” I mused. “Chell, could you make a portal under the tube and leading to the panel? I have an idea.” Chell nodded and did so. I stepped on the switch and released repulsion gel through the portal. It landed below the ledge. After I made sure the area was completely covered, I stepped off the switch. The gel tube closed, cutting off the flow and we bounced up to the top of the ledge.

“Oh, look,” called Wheatley, “another elevator. Hopefully, that one will go right back to the top.” Cave Johnson’s voice rang through the facility again.

“Caroline,” he told his personal assistant, “I think I’ll have extra cheese on my four-cheese burrito today. Throw in a side of coleslaw too. Oh, wait, is this thing on?” We entered the elevator and went up to another level in Old Aperture. “Cave here!” boomed Cave Johnson’s voice when we arrived. “Remember, there is no ‘I’ in science. At least, not a capital one, except, maybe, if you shout. But, throw in a ‘w’, and there IS a ‘we’. And together, WE can do anything WE put our minds to. And, by WE, I mean YOU. By the way, there’s no ‘u’ in science, either. Another thing there aren’t any of are limits, thanks to that contract you signed on the way in, so get moving! Caroline, they DID sign it, right? Good. Okay, good talk. Goooood talk!” The voice switched off. There were crushers blocking our path in front of pipes. There was a button there, so, I HAD to press it. The pipes released orange goo and coated the floor.

“Propulsion Gel!” I called. “Wanna race?!”

“Unfair for you, really,” signed Chell. “Your dress will trip you up!”

“Wanna bet?” I challenged. “First one to the end of the crushers wins!”

“Let’s do it!” signed Chell. We got into running positions.

“Three! Two! One! GO!” I said. We raced along at top speed and reached the end when I skidded to a stop, causing Chell to bump into me. There was a gap between us and another platform! “ARE YOU KIDDING?!” I yelled. I looked over the edge and saw a pipe pointing to a tilted panel. There was another tilted panel above us. Chell made a portal between the two panels and pointed below a walkway past the crushers. I saw a button below us. “Let’s hope it leads to the pipe,” I gulped.

“Considering it’s the only one,” signed Chell, “I should hope so.” I went down the walkway and pressed the button. It released Repulsion Gel through the portal and onto the platform we needed. We walked to the beginning of the crushers and sped through them, this time, ending up bouncing on the Repulsion Gel and onto the ledge. There were two platforms up high that needed a target switch and a button press. Behind us were pipes, one with an orange label and one with a blue label.

“Umm,” mumbled Wheatley, “just wanted to say…um…hopefully, no hard feelings about the whole ‘trying to bump you off’ thing, which, let’s be honest,” Chell decided to use a walkway to find the button for the blue pipe, “it DOES seem like a rather common occurrence around here,” continued Wheatley. “But, anyway, um, hope that’s all in the past,” I caught up with Chell, “and, um, that we can be…BFF’s! Can we BFF’s? Can we? I will take, from your deafening silence, that we are now BFF’s! BFF forever!”

“You have no intention of putting that incident in the past, do you?” I whispered to Chell.

“That moron tried to kill me!’ signed Chell after she pressed the button. “No way am I letting that go!” We went up the walkway to see that the pipe we opened released Repulsion Gel on the floor near the platform with a weight switch. Chell then pointed out a button hidden by a cage with a white panel and pointed out another panel under the target switch ledge. She made a portal between the two areas and pressed the button to release Propulsion Gel. I bounced up to the weight switch and summoned the Companion Cube. It set down on the switch and tilted a panel on my ledge up. Chell then changed one end of the portal to go onto the panel I released. Cave Johnson spoke again.

“The next bi-yearly raffle is nearly upon us,” he announced. “The Grand Prize is whatever shower curtains I can dig out, a true piece of our company’s history.” I jumped down, leaving the cube on the switch and raced along the Propulsion Gel to go through the portal at high speeds and land on the target switch ledge. I summoned the turret and it fired. It powered down a force field and allowed us to get through. I jumped down as Chell changed one end of the portal to go onto a white panel behind the former force-field. We went through and approached an elevator!

“Ah, another elevator!” called Wheatley. “And I still don’t have fingers for the buttons, so, that’s not gonna…hang on, I’ve got an idea!” He bashed himself into the elevator. “Ow! No? Hang on, I’ve got another idea.” He turned himself around and put his back to the controls. “I should’ve thought of this sooner,” he said. “I’ll just plug myself into the controls.” He tried various ways, none of them succeeding. Chell rolled her eyes and used the Portal Gun to ram Wheatley into the controls. “And away we go, ladies!” Chell and I entered the elevator and we ascended back into modern day Aperture Science.


	35. Chapter 35

We arrived at Test Chamber 92. Some platforms were retracting and coming out repeatedly. GLaDOS spoke again. “Oh well,” she remarked, “if it isn’t the grand return of King Moron, his Mute Princess, and the Huntress. You’ve come ‘Back to the Future’ of science, I see. As I said earlier, not that you were listening, I’m still fixing up the place. So, hold on a moment.” She managed to fix the platforms to make a bridge as we headed to a rather open chamber.

“Oh, OH! I remember this test!” cheered Wheatley “I tried it once, couldn’t do it, and, well, I simplified it! See if you can do it, go on!” In the middle of the chamber was a weight switch that opened the door in the middle of the wall ahead. I assumed it triggered a ramp once unlocked. I summoned the Companion Cube and put it on the switch. It did as I assumed. “Yay!” called Wheatley. “You did it! Well done you!” I was about to approach the ramp, but Chell put a hand on my shoulder. She shook her head.

“You think GLaDOS would change the test back to its factory settings?” I guessed. Chell nodded. “I can see why you would say that,” I continued, “but, maybe, she won’t notice this one.”

“NO!” snapped GLaDOS. “This is NOT an acceptable Test Chamber! Nor is it acceptable to ruin perfectly good testing scenarios! Here, let me fix it to how it was!” The ramp went down and the weight switch flipped over. An energy ball emitter and its acceptor ran along the wall on the right of the door. Above them was a platform with turrets blocking the way to an excursion funnel leading to a weight switch. On the door’s left, there was an Aerial Faith plate leading to the turret platform and a panel on the ceiling facing one on the floor with a target switch nearby.

“Then again,” I wailed, “I could be the victim of wishful thinking!”

“I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so’, but I told you so!” signed Chell.

“I MAY have been a little hasty in thinking GLaDOS would let it slide,” I sighed as I summoned the turret and cube. I sighed as Chell made a portal from the wall panel to the ceiling panel. She got me to press the button to release the energy ball. Chell then got the turret to fire on the target switch. The panel on the floor tilted towards the acceptor. The energy ball went through the portal and was directed to the acceptor. It made the part of the bridge the turrets were on tilt to let them fall into a pit. Chell then grabbed the cube with the portal gun and used the Aerial Faith plate to get onto the platform once the bridge came back.

“Have you ever had a fly buzzing around your head that won’t leave you alone?” asked GLaDOS. “No matter how hard you try, you can’t get rid of it. It just keeps coming back time and time again.” Chell then put the cube into the Excursion Funnel and it floated up to the weight switch. The door unlocked again and the ramp came back.

“YaHEY!” cheered Wheatley. “That’s it! Simple, isn’t it really, once you’ve figured it out?” We went into the elevator and went up. Test Chamber 93 was our destination.

“This is one of my most recent chambers,” reported GLaDOS, “and you’ll be glad to know I’ve completely reinforced the Aerial Faith plates to account for your bubbly personality.” A target switch was near the door, connecting to an Aerial Faith plate on the wall. There was one on the ground as well. We explored further to see a light bridge connecting two areas. There was an energy ball emitter and a white panel facing it on the bottom. Chell made a blue portal on the panel. I summoned the turret and got it to fire at the target switch. It tilted the Aerial Faith plate on the wall. I used the one on the ground to reach the wall one and I went to the rightmost area. I saw an Excursion Funnel with a weight switch on the ceiling, summoned the cube, and placed it in the Funnel. It floated upwards, activating the switch. It connected to the Energy Ball transmitter and released a ball. Chell came up as well.

“Just a quick FYI,” warned Wheatley, “those High Energy Pellets are NOT candy and actually really hurt if you come into contact with them. Best to just use them to solve the Test Chamber and not try to eat them.”

“Did he try to do that?” signed Chell.

“This IS Wheatley we’re talking about,” I reminded her. Chell went to an area where there were two moving platforms to stand on and a white panel beside them. Chell made a blue portal, thus making the portal tunnel complete, and the High Energy Pellet went through and into an acceptor. It activated a piece of wall that allowed a white panel to appear on the side. We went on the moving platforms and went into the new area. Chell saw a tilting panel and made a portal between the two panels in the area. I went down a flight of stairs and summoned the cube again. I put it on the weight switch and it brought the tilted panel up and we went into the portal to get to the elevator.

“That wasn’t so hard,” signed Chell.

“Even SIGNING that is a bad idea!” I protested. We entered the elevator and went up, right into GLaDOS’ chamber. She had remodeled it after our last encounter and was humming to herself while looking through a door.

“Can’t even solve the test I sent them!” she hummed to herself.

“Hello!” called Wheatley. Idiot! We were going for stealth! “What are you hiding there?”

“You?!” snapped GLaDOS as she turned to face us. “I thought the elevator from Test Chamber 93 went to the incinerato…Party…Cake…Location! But, this makes sense. Criminals always return to the scene of the crime! And look who else showed up.” She tilted her “head” to a core on the ground. Cores are machines like Wheatley, but this one had an orange eye instead of Wheatley’s blue.

“Space is my favorite color!” it called.

“The Space Core?” I asked. That specific core was a corrupted one obsessed with Outer Space.

“Spaaaaace!” laughed the Space Core. “Spaaaaace! Spaaaaace? Space. Spaaaace.” Wheatley groaned.

“That guy is really annoying,” he moaned. “I mean, honestly, you wouldn’t believe how annoying he is. Very annoying, annoying, annoying.” He started flying around GLaDOS, the Space Core, and us! “Annoying! Annoying!” I think you get the picture. “And I just, I can’t even be bothered. I’ll explain what I mean later, but he’s…he’s annoying!” He started repeating that word again, for a while, until Chell whacked him without looking like Bruce Lee.

“GLaDOS,” I demanded, “I’m giving you one last chance! Surrender the rift tech you have or Chell and I will take it!”

“I’m surrendering NOTHING!” snarled GLaDOS. “You have embarrassed me for the final time, meat-sack! If I obeyed you, my credentials as a computer more powerful than anything Black Mesa could dredge up would be at stake!”

“I appreciate that your reputation might be a little shaken,” I conceded as I drew my i.d tag, “but not letting me have the tech now will be an action you’ll regret later! Henshin!

“I’m sorry,” taunted GLaDOS as I changed, “but there won’t be a later. Because, here’s another old friend of yours: neurotoxin!” The gas came up!

“Kamen Rider Hunt!” I called. “I shall always get my prey!” Chell looked at me. “Well, don’t you have a catchphrase?” I asked.

“No,” she signed, “because my vocal cords are paralyzed!”

“I love space!” remarked the Space Core.

“Neurotoxin level at capacity in five minutes,” said an announcer program.

“Time for round three, is it?” asked GLaDOS.

“Okay,” suggested Wheatley, “here’s my plan, I think we should try and force a good old-fashioned Core Transfer. Classic, okay? If we can find a way to damage her, then we can force that space monkey into her body!” Maybe I have a dirty mind, but that couldn’t have been what Wheatley meant. “Why not take a look around and see what we can use?”

“Keep it down!” I snarled.

“I will NOT have my core transferred!” shouted GLaDOS. “Can’t you learn some new tricks?” We found a weight switch. I summoned the cube and placed it onto the switch while Chell used the portal gun to make a portal going from a panel in front of a High Energy Pellet emitter and a panel behind GLaDOS. The energy ball came on and went through the portal. “OUCH!” protested GLaDOS as the pellet hit her. “What is it with you?!” The panel fell, revealing where the Space Core wandered off to.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey Lady!” it called. “Space! Lady! Gotta go to space! Lady! Hey…space.”

“Warning,” announced the announcer program, “Core Corruption at 25%.”

“Yes!” cheered Wheatley. “Yes, this is it! You’re on to something! You’re on to something! Keep going with this! I like it! I love it! You look great, by the way, have you been working out?” We went up a ramp made from the wreckage and summoned the turret to shoot at a target switch. It activated an excursion funnel and I used an Aerial Faith plate to launch myself into it. I used it to arrive at a button which, when I pressed it, activated another panel behind GLaDOS. Chell made a portal between the new panel and the panel in front of the emitter. The cube was put back on the weight switch and the High Energy Pellet was thrown into GLaDOS’ backside.

“I let you go!” she snapped to Chell once she recovered. “I sent you away!! Why won’t you leave me alone?!! FOREVER!!!!” An explosion made a pipe full of repulsion gel spill its contents.

“Warning,” called the announcer program, “Core Corruption at 50%.”

“Oh, she does NOT like that!” mused Wheatley.

“One more should do nicely,” I pondered, “and then we can initiate the core transfer.”

“You cannot force me to agree to th-,” GLaDOS was cut off by static. “My voice?! What” more static “to my” more static. She regained her vocal processors. “All you need to do is turn around and leave! There is NOTHING for you here anymore!” I bounced on the Repulsion Gel and landed on the platform with a button. I was about to press when…it happened! At first, I didn’t want to believe it, but, there, delivering a kick to my ribs, was Igura!

“YOU?!” I snarled, remembering her involvement in Vortech’s plans.

“Me,” confirmed Igura. “And YOU are trespassing in Shocker Rift territory.”

“Shocker Rift?” I scoffed. “That’s what you guys call it?”

“Not my first choice, but the troops like it,” replied Igura as she revealed her belt, with the symbol of Shocker on it, an eagle holding the earth. “I don’t think I told you the name of my belt, did I? I call it the Talon Typhoon, so much better than the ‘Shocker Driver’ that Ambassador Hell wanted to call it.” She then did her henshin sequence like in the DC Comics world. She crossed her left arm in front of her, with the hand in a clawed fashion, and slowly moved it across the front with her right hand at her hip. “Nova…” she began. Her left hand then went to her hip as her right hand moved across her front with a clawed hand. “HENSHIN!” She opened the wings to split the Earth it had in its talons to reveal the fan. She ran to make enough wind pressure to make it turn and activate the suit. She became Kamen Rider Talon again. She drew her foil and we clashed. We were fighting over who stayed on the platform. I kept up the attack and switched my blade to gun mode. Talon leapt out of the way of my shots. She kept her distance, my intention, as I went for the button.

“STOP HER!” roared GLaDOS.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?!” screeched Talon. She leapt on me, we dropped our blades, and we grappled each other. I was doing everything I could to get to the button, but Talon was holding me back. We were in a tight spot. Soon, we were trying to push each other off the platform, then Talon got me in a better position. My back was to the button! When she pushed harder, I let go and side stepped to allow her to stumble towards and accidentally press the button. Another panel behind GLaDOS popped up and Chell made the portal again. She fired off one last High Energy Pellet. It caused damage.

“Warning,” alerted the announcer. “Core Corruption at 100%

“YaHEY!” cheered Wheatley. “Get in! That’ll teach her.”

“Manual Core Replacement required,” reported the announcer program.

“Quick!” called Wheatley. “Stick Spacey in there before she figures out another way to stop us!” GLaDOS tried flipping the panel the Core rested on, but Chell made a portal and grabbed it. She then installed the Space Core into the Core Replacement terminal.

“Alternate Core detected,” reported the announcer program. “Substitute core accepted. Substitute Core, are you ready to start the procedure?”

“Oooh! Yes! Yes! Let’s go to space!” answered the core.

“Corrupted core, are you ready to start the procedure?” asked the announcer program.

“NO! NEVER! I AM NOT CORRUPTED!” shouted GLaDOS.

“Stalemate detected,” reported the announcer program. “Transfer procedure cannot continue unless a Stalemate Associate is present to press the Stalemate Resolution Button.”

“Don’t do it!” shouted GLaDOS.

“I would listen to her!” supplied Talon.

“Can’t do that, sorry,” I called. A button popped up.

“No!” roared GLaDOS.

“Yes!” I countered.

“Īe!” (No!) called Igura.

“Ndiyo!” (Yes!) I replied. I pressed the button. GLaDOS gasped.

“Stalemate resolved,” reported the announcer program. Panels popped up around GLaDOS and machinery started their work. The Core Replacement terminal brought the Space Core down. As the machinery did its work, I heard GLaDOS screaming.

“A beautiful sound, really,” signed Chell.

“I’m gonna have to debate that,” I gulped.

“As would I!” snarled Talon as she attacked us. The attacks went so rapidly that Chell couldn’t sign her thoughts. We ended up in the room GLaDOS poked her head into earlier. Inside, the was a gateway, like the one on Vorton! It didn’t have the Keystones, so, no powers for her. Thank goodness. Talon shoved us out of the room and back into the main chamber. The Space Core then spun around, screaming “SPACE!” and whacked a corner pipe off and sent it flying at Igura’s head. She didn’t duck fast enough.

“Vent system compromised,” called the announcer program. “Neurotoxin offline.”

“Oh, that was close!” sighed Wheatley. “I mean, not for me, but you two were almost done for. All right, now, let’s see what she was hiding. I bet she’s got tons of skeletons in her closet. Literally, there used to be loads of staff here. I’ve not seen hide nor hair of them.” Wheatley entered the room with us as I cancelled my transformation. He found something near the gateway. “Oi! What’s this then? Some sort of flash drive? Valuable stuff is on it, I bet! We could use it!” He then saw boxes with “Black Mesa” on them. “Well, I never! Where do you suppose she got these then?” While Chell face-palmed, I got to work on the gateway. Chell tapped my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she signed as she retrieved the flash drive.

“I’m setting this thing to blow once we use it to get to Vorton,” I replied.

“What is V-O-R-T-O-N?” Chell had to spell out Vorton.

“The base of operations for me and my team,” I answered as I put the finishing touches to the program.

“Nice, what are you up to?” asked Wheatley, proving he hadn’t paid attention. The rift opened. “That answers that, then. After you?” Chell went first. I looked at Wheatley. “Go on, ladies first.”

“No, I need a brave knight to scout ahead with Chell,” I purred. I had to stoke his ego.

“Well, if you insist!” called Wheatley. He went in, then I followed. The truth is, I wanted to keep an eye on him since he betrayed Chell a while ago. The rest, you know, Your Highness.


	36. Chapter 36

“That was…quite an adventure you had!” I breathed. Tanisha curtsied as we clapped. “I think you left out where you got the studs, though.”

“Oh, Wheatley had accidentally snagged them when he was looking around GLaDOS’ gateway room,” explained Tanisha. “I took them when we were in the rift.”

“All right, my friends, I think we’ve had a long day,” I sighed. “Now, why don’t we…”

“Did you know that the mitochondria is your powerhouse? Wait, you’re not Cell!” I instinctively punched the guy that said that and he crashed into the wall. He slid down as if he was dead.

“Did…I just…manslaughter…Spider-Man?” I asked .

“Really?” sighed Emily. “Gonna make THAT mistake?”

“At least SOMEONE knows me!” muttered the guy I punched.

“Wait, how did you…?” I asked, unsure of how he survived that.

“Mutant, friendo!” laughed the guy. He jumped to his feet so I could see the number of pouches on his red and black suit. “Well, Mutate, really, but, whatevs!”

“Wade, how did you find us?!” sighed Emily.

“My magic unicorn!” snarked the guy. “Anyway, INTRODUCTIONS! I’m your Deadly Neighborhood Deadpool! It rhymes with No School! Too Cool! Ain’t no Fool and I’m acting like my incarnation in the _Ultimate Spider-Man_ TV series. Damn it!”

“Not a breaker!” wailed X-PO.

“A what?” asked Emmanuel.

“There’s a dividing force out in the multiverse,” explained Vortoranii. “A force that divides us from other null dimensions, where nothing exciting happens in the way you’re used to. That force is called the Fourth Wall, and some idiots in the multiverse love to turn it into powder! Hence, breakers!”

“What can I say?” chuckled Deadpool. “She-Honk and I do it a lot!”

“She-HULK, you mean,” corrected Richard.

“Don’t feed him!” wailed Emily.

“She’s big, green, makes noise,” argued Deadpool.

“And has the authority to sue your cancer-ridden rear,” countered Richard.

“A case like that can drag on for years,” dismissed Deadpool.

“So, wait, are you some guy who randomly spouts nonsense?” I asked.

“Among other things,” supplied Emily. “He’s called the Merc With a Mouth.”

“Merc?” I repeated “As in, mercenary?”

“Yepperoni!” confirmed Deadpool. “And, right now, some Asian dude contracted me to assassinate your skirt wearing ass!” He pointed to me.

“Ignoring the fact that you can't tell the Japanese apart from the rest of Asia, the thought of Hiro stooping that low never really crossed my mind,” I said.

“Yeah, well, the pic he gave me looks nothing like you.” Deadpool held up a picture of Sailor Moon.

“Oh, absolutely not!” I confirmed.

“Ah well!” giggled Deadpool as he tossed the picture aside. “Enough making the Toku Fandom mad. I’m gonna murderlize you real good with Black Betty and Vera!” He pulled out his guns. “Maybe this stupid retelling of _Lego Dimensions_ will get somewhere with me around!”

“Guns?” I asked. “Buddy, your employer can tell you how poorly that’s gonna work out for why is there a breeze through my shoulder?” Deadpool’s left gun was smoking. “I stand corrected,” I mused, “also perforated. Also, AAARRRGGH!” I clutched my shoulder in pain.

“And the blades here are Adamantium, baby!” cheered Deadpool. The twin katanas he had ended up in talk show chairs. “Meet Wanda and Selene! Who I named after my cats, that I had to put down with these swords.” He got up close and whispered in our ears as Emily got the bullet out. “Also, they weren’t cats, but feral tortoises!”

“Henshin!” called Emmanuel. He turned into Arch and fired off an energy arrow into Deadpool’s head. “Un, Deux, Trois, Quatre…” he counted before Deadpool came back up.

“Okay, the swords aren’t Adamantium,” he conceded. “They’re Carbonadium.” Arch shot him again. He hummed the French National Anthem for a bit before Deadpool popped up again. “DAMMIT!” he snapped, getting a little mad. “Listen, you rifle-dropping…!” Arch shot him again before he could get any further with that one.

“Mon Dieu,” muttered Arch, “and you told me he was Canadian, oui Emily?”

“I know, nowhere near as polite,” agreed Emily as she patched up my shoulder. “Go easy on it, all right?”

“All right, that’s F***IN IT!” roared Deadpool as he drew his swords. “Every time you idiots do this to me; you make me lose a bit of my memory! While I’m more than happy to say bye-bye to Uncle Vance and his camping trip from Hell, I can’t risk losing the time I got lucky at band school! So, sit still and let me dice you up!”

“Henshin,” called Emily. As she turned into Touché, her foil blocked his swords. “Listen, Wadey, can I call you Wadey?”

“You can call me whatever you want while I carve you like a goddamn ham!” threatened Deadpool.

“3,706,” counted Touché, remembering all the pig jokes she heard in her life. “Wadey, I get what your shtick is.” She knocked his swords out of his hands.

“AH! MY TIPS!” he yelped.

“One of us does something to you that would kill a normal person,” continued Touché, “you DON’T die, you crack a joke that offends someone, we do it again, rinse and repeat! You’ve lost your luster, dude. So, take your swords, your guns, your Fourth Wall breaking, and go back to your native universe.”

“Eh, sorry,” mused Deadpool, “but, a job’s a job’s a job! And I’m getting paid big time to kill your boss. So, step aside and let this be the easiest 10,000,000,000,000 bucks I’ve ever made!”

“You mean studs, right?” I asked.

“Er, no, I meant bucks,” countered Deadpool. “And not the male venison!”

“Deadpool, neither side uses American Dollars,” remarked Joshua.

“What else is there?” asked Deadpool.

“Can whoever’s watching or writing this explain to Deadpool what’s going on?” Touché asked the heavens as she changed back. A laptop came up from a pedestal in the floor. Deadpool went to DeviantArt, typed in a username, and found the story the artist made. He stopped at a certain point and developed a nasty twitch.

“Studs?” he hissed. “They were gonna pay me…in STUDS?! THAT’S NOT LEGAL TENDER WHERE I’M FROM!! IT’S NOT EVEN ILLEGAL TENDER!! AND THEY WERE GONNA CONVERT ME INTO ONE OF THEIR CYBORGS INSTEAD OF GIVING ME CHIMICHANGAS?! Okay, deep breath…” he inhaled, then exhaled. We waited a few seconds. “Congratulations!” cheered Deadpool. “You’ve just convinced me to break contract and fight Lord Vortech with you guys!”

“What do you want in return?” I asked.

“You ARE a smart one, this ISN’T a freebie!” replied Deadpool. “I want the 10 trillion and chimichangas they promised me!”

“How many chimichangas?” asked Emily. “I think the replicators can make the desired amount.”

“A butt-load!” answered Deadpool. Emily checked the options and saw that there was, indeed, a butt-load option. She selected it and out came the promised amount.

“As for the money,” called X-PO, “how would exclusive rights to the money dimension work out for you?”

“There’s a money dimension?” I asked.

“You’re lying,” muttered Deadpool. X-PO opened a rift and Deadpool stuck his head through. After a few seconds where his arms went limp, he pulled out, his eyes wider than an insect’s. “I could retire on just .01% of that!” he breathed. “Take a look!” We all poked our heads through and…Deadpool wasn’t wrong! Stacks of cash, gold, and jewels as far as the eye can see.

“Smaug wouldn’t have needed Erebor’s gold!” I exclaimed. I turned to Deadpool. “Well? Will that settle our debt?”

“Immensely!” confirmed Deadpool. “In fact, Your Highness, you’re the first person to have me on retainer!” A card printed out of the gateway.

“Just tap the little blue circle and Dimension 1-N-F-1-N-1-T-3-C-4-5-H is yours,” explained X-PO.

“Speaking of dimensions, I gotta get back,” announced Deadpool. “Gotta sharpen my weapons, reload, add a few pouches to the suit…”

“You really ARE a Liefeld creation, aren’t you?” muttered Emily.

“Hey, at least my current artists can draw my feet!” snapped Deadpool. A portal opened up. “And that’s my ride. Smell you later!” Deadpool, mercifully, went through.

“Okay,” I muttered, “any MORE crazies we should deal with, or can we retire to our rooms?” Nothing happened. “Let’s get some rest then.” Everyone dispersed. “Hiroki Nee-san,” I said, “would you walk with me for a sec?”

“Of course,” replied Hiroki. We walked around, away from prying eyes. It was then I decided to speak.

“Sending Tanisha to the _Portal_ universe without backup? What the heck?!” I snapped. Hiroki tensed up.

“Megumi,” he countered, “with all due respect, we were pressed for time. On top of that, Tonje’s not a gamer.”

“I’M not a gamer,” I reminded him, “and I survived that universe. Know why? Because I had the necessary backup. Tanisha would have guided Tonje through that universe just fine. If anything, it would have been easier on Tanisha so someone could have kept Igura off her back.”

“But, would explaining things not have slowed them down?” asked Hiroki. “That universe IS enemy territory.”

“That we have frustrated once before,” I reminded. “There would have been plenty of time for Tanisha to explain things to Tonje. I cannot have people underestimate one another. It’s because of having experts on certain universes that we survived thus far and it will continue to serve us all well. I don’t recall you raising any objections to me going to an unknown universe. Have I got that wrong and I didn’t hear your numerous objections?” That hit him.

“I…raised no such things,” he mumbled.

“Then I would advise you to extend that courtesy to the others, all right?” I directed.

“Yes, Sister,” he muttered. He left to his quarters without another word. The loneliness of command, gotta love it, huh?

* * *

“Lord Vortech, get me out of here!” wailed the potato battery I brought with me when I returned. In it was GLaDOS’ main neural processor.

“Considering your failure to destroy a Vortex Rider and the fact that you lost the rift technology Hiro left you,” snarled Vortech, “I see no reason to do so. You shall serve as a constant reminder to those that would dare fail me, Igura and Hiro, chiefly.”

“Excuse me?” I protested.

“You allowed yourself to be defeated by a child!” growled Vortech. “Your excursion into J-U-R-4-5-5-1-C-P-4-R-K had better not end in failure!” I gulped, realizing Vortech’s not in the mood for excuses.

“Yes, Lord Vortech,” I mumbled.


	37. Chapter 37

It took a while to locate him, but Daisuke was located in the Amazon, his namesake. He was in my universe, thank goodness. “All set?” Megumi asked me.

“Ready when the support staff is,” I called. Our newest ally, Chell, gave the thumbs-up.

“Ganbarou, Hongo-san!” (Good luck!) wished Hiroki. I waved my thanks and headed through the portal. As I went through, my mind went through all sorts of questions, chief among them was “Would he recognize me?” He was a wild man when I met him last. I soon arrived. The coordinates could only get me as far as the Amazon in my universe. Now comes the slightly easier part, finding Daisuke in this place.

“Away we go,” I declared. I started walking. As I walked, I heard branches on the ground snapping. I stopped as I realized there were multiple sources. “Daisuke?” I asked, hoping I was among friends. Perhaps a little too much to hope for. A four-armed ant monster leapt out with men in black bodysuits with tassels running along the arms and women in red bodysuits with the same tassels, only wearing silver eye masks instead of full face masks. I had remembered the ant monster be called Togeari Jūjin (Ant Beastman) from Daisuke. “A fight, I see?” I remarked. I got into the sequence. “Rider…HEN…!”

“Stop him!” ordered Togeari Jūjin. The foot soldiers attacked before I could finish. That’s something new for me. These guys were starting to overpower me! Just as Togeari Jūjin raised his arms to strike, he was tackled by something, or someone. The monster threw the person off. It was a man of Japanese ancestry, his hair, betraying some silver, was wild, like the expression on his face. He wore a silver bracelet on his upper left arm. He was muscular and had his hands out in a clawed fashion while he crouched as if he was going to pounce.

“Not nice place to meet, Hongo,” he said in his broken Japanese.

“I had to find you,” I replied. “Shall we?” Daisuke brought me into a tree where we could continue our transformations uninterrupted. Daisuke snarled and growled as he crouched. I did my usual sequence. “Rider…HENSHIN!” While I did that, Daisuke held his hands up in a clawed fashion, crossed them in front of him, and uncrossed and raised them again.

“A-MA-ZON!” he cried. As we leapt down, we changed into our Rider forms. His motif looked more like a monitor lizard than an insect like I take. He was green with red lines appearing on the suit, had yellow torso armor to look like abs, black boots and gloves with fins and silver claws on his fingers. His helmet looked almost like a green anglerfish and piranha. He had red eyes like mine, a single antenna with a red ball on top, and a jaw guard that moved when his jaw moved. His belt was white with a red handle on each side of the buckle, a buzz-saw blade pointing forward on the buckle, and red eyes on top. The look was completed with a white scarf. “Amazon!” shouted Daisuke once we landed. This was Kamen Rider Amazon, the sixth Kamen Rider of my era. We then went on the offensive. Amazon had an animalistic berserker style, thus fighting with bites and scratches as well as punches and kicks. He also gives off a battle cry of “Gii! Gii!” whenever he fights. When he dealt with the foot soldiers near him, he then targeted Togeari Jūjin. They grappled for a while as I took care of the foot soldiers. Normally, I wouldn’t hit women, but these ladies are serving evil and are trying to kill me. I didn’t have much of a choice. “How you here?!” quizzed Amazon to his opponent as he fought.

“A man named Hiro Adachi brought me back to take care of you!” explained Togeari Jūjin. “He said you would prove to be too dangerous to his employer’s plans and so got me back from Hell!”

“Then I send you back there!” declared Amazon. He leapt onto his opponent and bit hard into his exoskeleton. He then leapt off to use his finisher. “DAI SETSUDAN!” (Great Slice) he said as he chopped into the creature. Togeari Jūjin screamed before falling over dead. The foot soldiers ran when they saw their commanding officer die. We panted to catch our breath. “You…change…a lot,” panted Amazon as he caught his breath.

“I had my cybernetics upgraded,” I replied. We cancelled our transformations.

“Why you here?” asked Daisuke.

“I’m here because of a greater threat,” I answered. “Our universe is under attack by a creature named Lord Vortech. He’s gathering these objects called Foundation Elements, artefacts that keep all universes stable, and he’s using other people to do his dirty work. I have other friends helping me fight him, and one of them needs your help.”

“My help?” asked Daisuke.

“Her name is Megumi Hishikawa,” I explained. “She’s someone who just found out that she’s a naturally occurring Shocker Cyborg with Tiger DNA. She wants to access that side so she can become someone called Kamen Rider Vortex.”

“Another Rider need my help?” quizzed Daisuke.

“Exactly,” I confirmed.

“Where she?” asked Daisuke.

“She’s in another universe,” I answered. “I have the means to get us there.”

“Then we go!” declared Daisuke. I brought out my communicator.

“X-PO, Daisuke has agreed!” I called. “Ready to rejoin Megumi’s team!”

“One rift to the Princess, coming up!” announced X-PO.

“Princess?” quizzed Daisuke.

“In her native universe, it’s just an act,” I explained. The rift opened. Daisuke stepped back a bit. “It’s alright, it’s safe,” I assured. Daisuke cautiously stepped forward, then leapt in. I followed and saw him tumbling and screaming in terror. “This is gonna be a long trip,” I thought.

* * *

Once Hongo left, Rusty got to work finding the Jurassic Park world. I turned to Emily’s team. “All set?” I asked.

“Ready and waiting, your highness,” replied Emily as she made some last-minute adjustments to her hairpiece.

“Target coordinates set!” reported Rusty.

“We’ll see you later!” called Emily as she and her team went through.

“That just leaves us,” muttered Batman.

“My lady,” queried Gandalf, “are you sure this is the right course of action?”

“The enemy has an advantage over us,” I replied. “With Hiro having that kind of power, Vortech could finish us with a simple order. If I can access my Cyborg side, we may level the playing field again. And, before you ask, no, I’m not training in my dress. That’s too many skirts for me to worry about. Trust me, the training clothes I have on will serve me in greater stead.”

“Honestly, your clothes never crossed our minds,” assured Wyldstyle.

“You guys are up!” called Elphaba.

“Good luck!” wished Xiomara as Hiroki’s team saw mine off. Tonje and Tanisha led the way with we Keystone bearers following. We fell through the vortex.

“Keep an eye out for the exit!” warned Wyldstyle. “I don’t wanna be floating around this thing all day!” That was when we encountered Hongo and another man. The new arrival was screaming in terror.

“That was quick!” I cheered. “So, that’s Kamen Rider Amazon?”

“He would introduce himself,” replied Hongo, “but I think the experience is traumatizing for him.” The exit then showed up. It was in an ornate building with a Lion theme going on.

“The Lion Temple!” called Tonje.

“We’ll be among friends!” cheered Tanisha. Daisuke lost his breath. We landed in the room, a throne room with a fountain. Anthropomorphic lions were conducting their business when they saw us. One of them, an old man with a silver mane, a sleeveless pearl gold chest plate, and a dark blue kilt and cape stood up from the throne when we landed. He was apparently in conference with an Crocodile man in a gold helmet, a gold chest plate with large shoulder pads, and a red torn up cape as well as an Eagle man in blue robes, a gold chest plate, and a gold helm. He had talons for fingers and a set of wings from his back.

“Who are you?!” roared the lion. The crocodile hissed.

“How dare you interrupt us, apes!” screeched the eagle.

“You want fight?!” snarled Daisuke.

“NO!” yelped Tanisha as she got between us and the animals. “No! No one wants to fight anyone! Please, everyone, let’s not panic!”

“Why should we listen to intruders?!” bellowed the lion.

“Okay, Your Majesty, for once, no tricks,” answered Tanisha. “We’re from another universe where all of Chima’s history was just a tie-in story for a line of building toys. I am Lady Tanisha, an expert on Chima and the various tribes and individuals on said tribes, like you, King Lagravis, ruler of the Lion Tribe.” The lion was startled. “And your fellow rulers here are King Crominus of the Crocodile Tribe and Ewald, current head of the Ruling Council for the Eagle Tribe. Lagravis, you were friends with Crominus, but politics drove you apart. Ewald, you love to find the perfect solution, which is a strength, but a weakness as well. Crominus, you’re trying to get your son, Cragger, to lead in a pragmatic way instead of his hot-headed way. Lagravis, your son is Laval, whom we met. Ewald, your daughter, Eris, prefers to be on the ground with Laval and Cragger.”

“How do you know so much about our personal lives?!” hissed Crominus.

“Like my girlfriend said, you and your lands are part of a building toy line in our universe,” explained Tonje. “We’re all from different universes. I am Tonje. This is Tanisha. This is Hongo. This is Batman. That’s a new friend of ours, Daisuke. That’s Wyldstyle. And this is our leader, Princess Megumi Hishikawa. We’re all humans.”

“Pleased to meet you, Your Majesties,” I greeted. We bowed to them. The tension seemed to go down a bit.

“That’s the who, the what, and the where taken care of,” hissed King Crominus. “Now, all we need is the why.”

“Okay, that will take some time,” I muttered. I started explaining why we were here. When I mentioned Shocker Rift, Crominus hissed.

“Something you wish to share?” asked Ewald.

“That organization you mentioned,” requested Crominus, “is a man named Hiro Adachi among its members?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” I replied.

“He's near my home, the Crocodile swamp,” declared Crominus

“And that leads me to my reason for being here” I continued. “You see, he’s a Mutant Cyborg of Shocker design and passed on his genetics and (somehow) cybernetics to me. He’s my biological father.”

“And we need to access her Mutant Cyborg side to gain an advantage over Shocker Rift,” supplied Tanisha.

“And you believe your friend, Daisuke and the terrain of Chima can help?” asked Lagravis.

“Yes,” answered Tonje. Lagravis settled and started thinking.

“If I may,” interjected Crominus, “the Beaver Tribe is experiencing a mass vacation. We could use them to build a training ground for her and Daisuke.”

“We don’t want to interrupt anyone’s vacation!” I assured.

“Actually, we do,” countered Tanisha. “The Beaver Tribe finds the idea of vacations abhorrent. It’s been used as a threat as working is considered fun to them.”

“Have any of them suffered karōshi?” asked Hongo. He was met with confused stares.

“The literal translation is ‘overwork death’,” I explained. “Did any beaver work himself to death?”

“Not at all,” replied Lagravis. “In fact, the most deaths occur during a vacation, when their muscles atrophy to the point of uselessness.”

“Eesh, other end of the spectrum,” I gulped. “All right, which way?”

“Follow us,” called Lagravis. The three rulers led us to these vehicles with one wheel with the controls and seat near the rear. “These Speedorz will get us to the Beaver Tribe,” explained Lagravis

“I’ve always wanted to ride one!” cheered Tonje.

“I’m not so sure I want to ride one,” said Tanisha, a little hesitant.

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” teased Tonje. “How hard can it beeeEEEEEEE!!!!” The Speedor took off and ran right into a wall near the training grounds for the lions. The Speedor was mangled and Tonje was thrown off in time. “Okay, it’s harder than it looks,” she moaned. She summoned her horse and pressed a button. It turned into a motorcycle!

“Our steeds can do that?!” I called. “How did I not notice that?!”

“Fighting got in the way,” mused Tanisha. She summoned her steed and changed it into a motorcycle as well. I followed suit as well as summoned the other vehicles.

“Can you get mine?” asked Daisuke. “It called Jungler.”

“I’ll see if I can get it,” I said. I searched throughout the rift to find it. I pulled something through. It was a red motorcycle with wings on the back and a mouth and green eyes.

“That Jungler!” called Daisuke. He leapt on it and we sped after the rulers to the Beaver Tribe. It was a civilization that used wood a lot, go figure. The citizens, a diminutive people, looked downcast. The buildings were in tip top shape. The people just sat around with their tools in hand, looking down.

“Tanisha,” I whispered.

“I know,” observed Tanisha. “They don’t have work to do. We need to talk to Breezor.”

“Is he the leader?” I asked.

“Right,” confirmed Tonje. We headed to a large hut to see a beaver sitting on a throne.

“That’s Breezor,” explained Lagravis. He then turned to the beaver. “Breezor, my friend!” Breezor looked up.

“Welcome to my hall, Lagravis,” greeted Breezor. “I wish you visited us in better spirits.”

“We actually came to lift your spirits,” called Crominus.

“Oh?” asked Breezor. “Some sort of circus?”

“A building job for this lady,” replied Ewald as he pointed to me. Breezor and the beavers in the hut got out of their funk slightly.

“Go on,” invited Breezor.

“Megumi, you explain,” directed Crominus.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I replied. “Mr. Breezor, as you guessed, I’m not from any tribe of Chima. And an enemy is coming that will take something called the Foundation Element. Because of that, I need to access my beast side quickly and will need Daisuke’s help. Can you guys build a training ground to help in that regard?”

“Do you even need to ask?!” cheered Breezor. He grabbed a wrench and addressed his people. “Grab your tools! We have work to do!” The people cheered, grabbed tools, made plans, and then rushed for the site.

“That was quick,” I mused.

“Follow those Beavers!” called Tanisha. We got on our vehicles and sped after them. This was gonna take some time.

* * *

“I can’t believe this,” Hiro muttered. “Vortech decides which hostages to use and which not to? Why should I bring the families of the Vortex Riders when Frodo, Robin, Ichimonji, and MetalBeard are more valuable?!”

“What’s he going on about?” asked one of the hostages, a Mrs. Linda Saunders.

“Ah, the usual,” I replied in the language we Shocker Combatmen use, that “Yee!” sound we make. It’s so refreshing to talk with someone who understands you that ISN’T your boss. “He’s sore that you guys were chosen as bargaining chips instead of those that carried Foundation Elements.”

“Hoo boy,” muttered Linda’s husband, Fred another person who understands us. “How will that impact your work?”

“His mannerisms are already doing so,” I sighed.

“I understand that we need whatever power that’s required to conquer our universe,” griped a Combatman working on the communications array with me, “but the way he’s going, I’m halfway tempted to ask him for time off!”

“Hey, does the name Mikoto mean anything to you?” asked Linda. “Nova Combatman, er, woman?”

“Yeah, I know her, why?” replied my partner.

“Yeah, I heard that my daughter, Emily got rid of her,” winced Linda.

“NO!” moaned my partner. “Not Mikoto-chan! I was gonna ask her out when she came back!” I gave him and the Saunders a cup of tea.

“Here’s to Mikoto-chan,” I toasted. We raised our cups. “Rest in peace, friend.” We then poured the contents of the cups onto the ground as libations.

“Why are you twits slacking!” roared Hiro. “I want communications to Foundation Prime established before Vortech is…*ahem…is…bothered by such…distracting minutiae.” My partner and I got communications set up and Hiro took over. “Inputting access code and booting up,” he reported. Vortech’s face appeared.

“Good to see that the operation didn’t fail in the communications department,” remarked Vortech.

“Good to hear you too,” muttered Hiro. “We’re about to initiate the search for the Vortex Riders.”

“See that you don’t disappoint,” ordered Vortech.

“Certainly knows how to inspire, doesn’t he?” muttered Linda.

“You, shut up!” snapped Hiro.


	38. Chapter 38

I had many things to consider. How were we going to ultimately finish Vortech? What about those universes that had their original history altered? Will the Vortex Riders keep their belts? If so, what will happen to their home universe? I had scurried into my office at After Academy. I say office, but it was more of a bedroom with a desk than an office. A bit crude of me to hide, since it was near the end of the month-long Halloween Festival at the school, but I needed the privacy. My office was done up in the skeletal motif I’m associated with. I heard the door open but was so deep in thought. “Death?” asked a voice. “War was asking after you. She wanted to know about the construction of…”

“A secret ship…” I muttered.

“Considering all staff and students know about the ship,” replied the voice, “and that wasn’t what I was talking about being built, I don’t think it’s a secret.”

“No,” I mused in a lower whisper than usual, “I think we should make one.”

“Death?” asked the voice.

“We have the technology and magic,” I whispered, “we just need the resources. Maybe I should detail some mining operations, see if we can get some things.”

“Death, what are you talking about?!” asked the voice harshly. I was snapped out of my reverie to see Lacey and Scorpainia at the door. Lacey was in a navy blue walking mermaid tail, a red tutu and leotard with black tulle, a pair of devil horns with a halo in the center, and a set of black angel wings. Scorpainia was in her usual armor, on a visit. “You don’t usually go all bony unless you’re thinking deeply about something,” observed Lacey. I looked at my hands to see that I had, indeed, adopted the look most cultures associate me with, a skeleton in a black cowl and robes.

“Sorry, sweetie,” I whispered as I put flesh back onto the bones and changed my robes for my dress. “I was just thinking.”

“About?” asked Scorpainia.

“Things,” I whispered, vaguely. I elaborated on that as I moved to sit on my bed. “Specifically, what we have and DON’T have.”

“I don’t follow,” commented Lacey as she and Scorpainia followed me. Lacey sat on a bench while Scorpainia sat backwards in my desk chair. I rested my chin on my hands.

“It’s been a while since War visited Foundation Prime,” I whispered. “Oddly enough, he never really made a move against us, even when we freed Scorpainia. Nothing new, nothing different, nothing out of the ordinary that would normally get my attention.”

“I thought we wrote that off as a lingering after effect of the Foundation Saber,” recalled Scorpainia.

“I know,” I whispered. “It’s just…there’s something Vortech’s playing at. The fact that I don’t know worries, concerns me about the future.”

“I don’t see much point in dwelling on it,” mused Scorpainia. “Future predictions tend to be wrong anyways. It’s good to have a plan, but some things aren’t foreseen.”

“‘The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe’,” I started quoting. “‘The other player is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair and patient, but we also know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, nor makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.’”

“I think you forgot a bit of that quote from Dr. Thomas Huxley,” reminded Lacey. “After the ‘phenomena of the universe’ bit, he said, ‘The rules of the game are what we call the Laws of Nature,’ and then he goes into the other player.”

“And against a force of nature like Vortech, the last of the Vortonians, we’re woefully unprepared,” I sighed. “It feels that way to me, at least. We’re trying to get new people to help and whatnot, but…it’s not shaping up to be enough. Not when the BIG fights come. Some of them, the Vortex Riders can hardly call them fights. The only reason they’re alive right now is because Megumi found help and put aside her pride. What happens when one of Vortech’s flunkies does something completely out of left field, who doesn’t care about a greater plan and just feels like stomping them?”

“By that same admission though,” countered Scorpainia, “why should they care about bothering Megumi if it’s beyond revenge or the like?”

“Tell that to Hiro,” I whispered. “He’s considered a hired gun in Vortech’s plan. One part of the Rogue Driver’s legend suggests that it can make its host ascend to godhood. And, even at THAT level, Megumi is still capable of getting her rear handed to her! Hiro tricks people in so many ways. And it’s not just him. The Daleks have pestered us more times than I can count. Shocker and its splinter group, Shocker Nova continue to take us completely by surprise! Then there was that whole fiasco with the Sontarans in the universe you were commanding before, Scorpainia. That was a defective clone batch! Imagine what a perfect one could have done!” I sighed. “We try to develop new weapons, train new fighters, plan something the enemy wouldn’t expect, but…I don’t know. Maybe we’ve lost the knack for it.”

“But we still win through,” observed Lacey.

“And that’s even MORE terrifying, though,” I whispered. “The Sontarans were robbed of their prize when Scorpainia made a last-ditch effort to stop them. The Omega Protocols are a last resort and defective Sontarans suppressed the Tarlaxians enough that they needed to move from that universe. That’s not something Scorpainia does willy-nilly!”

“Well, sitting and examining a battle down to the tiniest detail, even though we won with honor,” declared Scorpainia, “isn’t going to help us win. What do you suggest we do?”

“We need…information, knowledge,” I whispered.

“I think I know one place we can start looking,” helped Lacey. “It’s the reason I came here in the first place.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s about the Foundation Saber,” explained Lacey. “I think it’s trying to say something. Whenever I pass by that room we’re keeping it in, I hear something like a very soft, low voice trying to say something. I already told War and Scorpainia told Pestilence and Famine.”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked.

“About a couple of days,” replied Lacey. “I checked with the nurse to make sure I wasn’t going crazy, but she found a psychic aura around it. That was when I told War.”

“Good thing you told us,” I whispered. “We’ll look into it after the Halloween Festival is over. Scorpainia, I need you to look into something else.”

“At your disposal,” assured Scorpainia.

“When you inherited the Eye of Tarlax,” I whispered, pointing to the jewel in her armor, “you said there was an underlying message in it. A message of reinforcement. We haven’t done a lot of study of it, but I think it’s time we learned what it means. Get your scientists and mages on it. In the meantime, I’ll see what War wants to make. Something to do with the Foundation Saber?”

“Bingo,” confirmed Lacey.

“I’m on it,” called Scorpainia. She opened a rift and returned to her new universe, Tarlax 14.

“In the meantime, I think we had better rejoin the festivities,” I suggested to Lacey. I helped her up as she got herself steady in her tail. We then walked out the door as I changed my dress into a costume of a Black Chess Queen.

“Time to move some pawns,” quipped Lacey. I chuckled softly at her joke. As we walked, Lacey got an idea. “I just need to do a written portion of Pestilence’s Apocalypse final, right?”

“Right,” I confirmed

“I think we can use our examination of the Foundation Saber to be that bit!” said Lacey. “I write down what we’re doing, what my theory is, and what the results are, and use that!”

“A lab report!” I whispered. “She will love that!” I then heard a rustling noise. “Lacey,” I whispered.

“The plants behind us, I heard it too,” confirmed Lacey. We both cautiously crept towards the plants, moved our hands toward them, and shoved them aside to see five students, Lacey’s friends. They had all gone the path of gothic angel, devil, sea creature tutu-wearing ballerinas, one of them being a male. The young man was Brendan, whose sea creature was an octopus mermaid, a Cecaelia. The tallest girl was Amelia, whose sea creature was an eel mermaid, an Anguillimer, as she called it. The short and stocky girl was Sophie who was a seahorse mermaid, a Hippocamini, as she called it. The third one, a shy girl by the name of Flora who was an Orca based mermaid, an Orcimy as she called it, was hiding behind Brendan. The last one, the spunky Ms. Charline, was a shark based mermaid, a Selayne, as she called it. “Eavesdropping, are we?” hissed Lacey.

“We weren’t dropping any eaves!” yelped Brendan. “We were just trimming the plants!”

“They’re office plants,” I whispered. “They don’t need trimming. How much have you heard?” No one said a word. “All right, let’s do Sir Terry’s method,” I then deepened my voice. “HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HEARD?” I said in my Discworld voice.

“We didn’t understand much of it!” cried Amelia. “All we heard was a sword giving Lacey some mental problems, some fiasco with Sontarans, a fight with Vortech, that’s all, we swear!”

“You went to the beginning of that conversation!” snarled Lacey. “I don’t believe it!”

“Please, Ms. Death, Ms. Lacey, don’t hurt us!” whimpered Flora. “Don’t turn us into anything…unnatural!”

“…No?” I whispered. “Well, I think I know something for you five. Lacey’s going to be our Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse. She needs a herald and I think the rest of Horsemen need one each. You will be our heralds.”

“We won’t disappoint you! We swear!” called Sophie.

“I don’t think you will,” I whispered. “Now, no more eavesdropping. Clear?”

“Crystal clear!” gulped Charline. “It won’t happen again!”

“Good,” I sighed. “Now, don’t you have a play to rehearse?”

“Come on, you guys,” directed Lacey. “We’ve got work to do.” As they walked away, Lacey asked Amelia how her character was getting along. I sighed with a grin as I headed to Pestilence’s lab. She needed to know what Lacey was planning.


	39. Chapter 39

Day 1: The Beaver tribe had just finished our training field and were given a new job to reinforce some buildings in the Lion Temple. This would definitely serve our purposes. “All right,” called Daisuke, “you want to be beast?”

“Yeah!” I shouted.

“Then we begin today!” declared Daisuke. “We start by running through that maze!” We got into position. “Go!” shouted Daisuke. We ran in and that’s when I got the full brunt of it. Balls on chains whacked into my sides, sending me into the air. When I landed, a bunch of arrows whizzed past, one of them sticking into my butt. As I ran, a wall popped up and I ran smack dab into it. I passed out. Later, I woke up at the start with Daisuke shaking his head. “We have lots work to do,” he muttered.

* * *

Day 4: I was doing some laps around the training field with Daisuke passing me a couple of times, but I was hardly sweating.

* * *

Day 6: Weight training was going miserably. Daisuke was lifting a quarter of a ton while I could barely lift 10 pounds.

* * *

Day 13: Chin-ups. My grip was so awful, I fell on my butt a lot.

* * *

Day 17: Swimming. This one went a little better. In fact, it seemed to make Daisuke change tactics. “You say Hiro tiger cyborg?” he asked.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Tigers good swimmers,” remembered Daisuke. “We going at this wrong way. We need to use tiger strengths, like swimming. Running also strength. We need to work on power in arms, tree climbing, and jumping.”

* * *

Day 25: Daisuke’s new Tiger regimen seems to be working. I was climbing trees rather well.

* * *

Day 28: I don’t know the full details of what happened, but I can tell you what went on in my mind. Daisuke and I were sparring, rather brutally, I might add. I was falling on the kicks and punches of traditional fighting, but Daisuke grew up in the wilds. He didn’t pull any punches. After a few minutes, he slashed across my face and something happened. For a while, my vision went red, and then I blacked out. I woke up looking at the ceiling of the healing hut next to the training field. “Wha…happen…?” I asked, groggily.

“We were hoping YOU could shed some light,” replied Batman. He brought out a camera, showing what happened. When Daisuke slashed across my face, I twitched for a while. My face seemed to contort into a primal rage. My eyes…were not human. If anything, they looked more beast like. All of a sudden, my mouth and nose elongated into a feline’s mouth. My ears sunk into my head while rounded ears sprouted from the top. My muscles were rewriting themselves and bulking out while hair was sprouting all over my body. The hair was taking an orange color and black stripes were coming out too. My fingers and toes then unsheathed claws as metal piping sprouted from my arms, legs, and back. Monster-me then unleashed a roar and went on a savage rampage, knocking Daisuke off his feet. At that point, he crouched and got into a defensive stance, getting his fingers in a claw fashion as he snarled. He then raised his hands up, then crossed them across his chest, then uncrossed and raised them again.

“A-MA-ZON!” he roared. His eyes turned a demonic red as his body changed. He turned into a lizard based Kamen Rider with a white scarf. “Amazon!” he announced. I presume this was the name Hiroki used for Daisuke’s rider form. We charged at each other and grappled. It seemed I was fighting blindly, and Amazon saw this. He got the upper hand quickly and delivered an uppercut. I was sent spinning as Amazon leapt at me. “Jaguar Shock!” he said before his helmet split apart enough for his teeth to sink into my arm. Apparently, that’s when I passed out again and he brought me to the healing hut. I saw my arm in bandages and my own form in the usual human one.

“Well, that could have gone better,” I sighed.

“No focus on bad,” encouraged Daisuke. “We need know why you went nuts.”

“It seems like a scratch did it,” I observed, “but why? I’ve been shot at, blown up, stabbed at, poisoned, and what have you. A simple scratch to my face shouldn’t have done that.”

“When you finished healing, we continue training,” declared Daisuke.

“Sensei,” (Teacher) I countered, “with all due respect, we need to finish training as quickly as possible.”

“Can’t do that when hurt,” replied Daisuke. “Rest. Nothing will…” Tanisha’s belt buzzed.

“Happen?” I said, completing Daisuke’s sentence. “Who is it? Vorton?” I asked Tanisha. Her eyes went wide.

“No, Vader. And he wants to meet in front of the Lion Temple,” she replied.

“Vader? You’re talking about Darth Vader, right?” I yelped. Tanisha nodded and I gulped.

“Who’s Vader?” asked Batman.

“A very dangerous man,” gulped Tonje. “Once known as a Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, he was seduced by Darth Sidious to become his apprentice. One of the best pilots in the Galactic Empire and one of the most powerful Sith Lords, Vader is a very skilled cyborg.”

“Another cyborg?” hissed Batman. “Robin’s friend is one! That’s enough!”

“Regardless,” continued Tonje, “he also possesses a skill with something called the Force, that universe’s name for magic, if you will.”

“So, a dark wizard, then?” guessed Gandalf.

“A dark wizard/knight, yes,” I replied. “Am I good to move?”

“Megumi, you’re not about to agree to meet Darth Vader, are you?!” asked Tanisha.

“I want to see what he wants,” I declared. “I’m fully aware of his reputation in his native universe, but I want to hear him out, get a bead on who’s side he’s on and all that.”

“He’s probably on Vortech’s side!” argued Tanisha.

“But why would his master, Emperor Sheev Palpatine, bother?” asked Tonje.

“Sheev?” I muttered. “That’s his first name?”

“Think about it, you two,” continued Tonje. “Palpatine wouldn’t dare have anyone over him. He’s too power hungry for that.”

“True,” conceded Tanisha, “but who’s to say that he won’t bide his time like with the Republic?”

“Another point,” I muttered, “there IS the Rule of Two to consider.”

“Rule of Two?” asked Hongo.

“There’s always two in the Sith,” I explained, “a Master and an Apprentice. And the Apprentice must kill their Master to take their place.”

“You think this may be part of Vader’s plan to kill his master,” guessed Batman.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “We’re going to meet him.”

* * *

We arrived at the Lion Temple Entrance, where a vessel was waiting. The center cockpit was spherical and had connections to curved wings on the side. A hatch opened from the top, allowing a figure to jump out. There he crouched, with the Lions ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “Lower your weapons,” I called to the Lions. “He’s been expecting me.” The figure stood up. Standing at 6’7”, the figure was clad all in black. His helmet evoked that of the Samurai, minus the crest. A control panel was on his front. A black cape was held by his metallic shoulder pads and a silver tube was clipped to his side. His breathing was deep and clearly assisted by the machinery that makes up a good chunk of his body. Darth Vader stared right at me.

“You are wise to have them stand down, Your Highness,” he said in his familiar booming, deep voice, “In any case, I am NOT here to fight, but to give you this.” He held out a glowing orb.

“That’s a Chi Orb!” called a Lion.

“Fire Chi, if memory serves,” mused Tanisha. Wyldstyle’s scanner went crazy.

“It’s also putting out the same energy signature as the Foundation Elements,” she reported when she checked it. “We’re being gifted the Element of this universe!”

“And your loved ones, bar a Mr. Hayato Ichimonji, a Mr. Dick Grayson, a Mr. Frodo Baggins, and a Mr. MetalBeard, are in Crocodile Swamp, under the combined ‘benevolent’ care of Shocker Rift and Crooler,” boomed Vader.

“Then the ones you named are still on Foundation Prime,” guessed Batman.

“Correct,” confirmed Vader.

“In my universe, everything about you is detailed,” I commented. “I know you too well. What do you want in return?”

“A place in your organization,” replied Vader.

“Say what?” yelped Tonje.

“Vortech had attacked my universe and nearly destroyed my master,” explained Vader. “That kind of blood is reserved for the apprentice, so I want to show him the power of the Dark Side of the Force.”

“But we’re practically Jedi,” I argued. “Besides, you have an army. Why come to us?”

“Because this endeavor requires something beyond the scope of even the Emperor’s command,” replied Vader, “your power, the very power you’re attempting to tap into, Your Highness.”

“Then I see no reason to have a Sith Lord in my team,” I declared.

“On the contrary,” countered Vader. “You and Kamen Rider Apocalypse may be our only hope to defeat Vortech, but only I can provide you with troops.”

“You think our team is insufficient?” I asked.

“Do you really think guerilla tactics will stop someone like Vortech?” boomed Vader. “Like the Emperor, he doesn’t need to worry about every single detail. He has many soldiers at his beck and call.”

“You can provide us troops?” I ventured.

“If you let me join, I can give you the vast resources of the Empire,” offered Vader. It took a few seconds to consider.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” shouted Batman. “Dealing with a reformed witch and a living trashcan is bad enough but having an unrepentant villain in our ranks?! Besides, he’s working his own agenda!”

“One that’s being interfered with,” I countered. “Lord Vader, forgive my suspicion, but how long do you think our alliance will last?”

“As long as mutually beneficial,” replied Vader.

“And after we beat Vortech?” I continued.

“I will return to my universe to destroy my master,” declared Vader.

“Like with Starkiller?” I quizzed.

“Make no mistake,” growled Vader, “this time, I will require no such apprentice.” Judging by the tone, Vader needed my decision now.

“All right, you can join us,” I said.

“Megumi, what are you doing?!” yelped Tonje.

“Meg, NO!!” wailed Tanisha. Oh, how I hate that nickname. Everyone in the F.N.S knows that!

“We’re at war, right now,” I declared. “We need soldiers.” I then fired up my communicator. “X-PO, get me in contact with Hiroki and Emily.”

“What, no ‘Hello, X-PO, I have an update for you on my training’?” snarked X-PO.

“Just do it,” I hissed. X-PO grumbled, but I was soon connected. “Hey, guys,” I called. “How are you holding up?”

“Well, the Dinobots, Beast Wars Dinobot, and the Dinosaurs they’re based on are rampaging across the island to stop Igura, my childhood tormentor, and Beast Era Megatron in a techno-organic body from getting the Foundation Element,” reported Emily. “The Genetically modified Dinos haven’t been spotted, so I don’t think they’re joining in the fight. Oh, did I mention that we’re in _Jurassic World_?” She then blew a raspberry. “The first movie was enough.”

“Nothing exciting on my end,” commented Hiroki.

“Well, I’m about to send some your way,” I sighed. “Make all necessary preparations for Darth Vader’s arrival. He’s joining us in our war against Vortech.” There was a long silence. “…Guys?”

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR TINY LITTLE MIND?!” shrieked Emily.

“That’s the second time that phrase was used towards me today,” I hissed. “Frankly, I’m getting annoyed.”

“Nee-san, you’re talking about letting Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, join us!” yelped Hiroki.

“He gave us the Foundation Element of this universe, told us that our families are here, and can provide us troops,” I argued. “We need his help.”

“Oh, how considerate of him!” yelled Emily. “That will totally pardon his sins!”

“Look, I’m not thrilled about it either, but we need every advantage we can get!” I snapped. “Lord Vader, do you have Vorton’s coordinates?”

“I do, Your Highness,” confirmed Vader.

“Then Hiroki will receive you and whatever troops you decide to bring,” I replied. “And, Hiroki, Emily, Vader is to be treated with respect, is that clear?!” After a pause, I heard two people sigh.

“Crystal clear,” mumbled Hiroki.

“We understand,” muttered Emily.

“Good,” I declared. “I’ll stay behind to focus on a new development that happened to me. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Megumi Out.” I ended communications. “Lord Vader, forgive us if the welcome is…less than welcoming.”

“I understand,” replied Vader. “I shall see you on Vorton.” He entered his TIE fighter and took off. A rift opened for him and he went in.

“Megumi, I must continue to object,” hissed Tanisha.

“Noted, and I will deal with the consequences if it turns out to be a poor choice,” I commented. “For now, I need to control my animal side.”

“Not control,” argued Daisuke. “That always bad idea to try to control and suppress. Treat tiger side as partner, like you do with horse.” The thought never occurred to me. I considered my sensei’s words. In all honesty, it makes sense.

“When do we begin again?” I asked.

* * *

Five…weeks. …Five weeks since I came here, and only now does Hiro decide to move us. “Where are you taking us?” I demanded.

“That’s not your concern,” hissed Hiro. “What IS your concern is that you bear witness to an experiment.”

“What experiment?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” said Hiro cryptically. We arrived at an intricate wooden structure. “Megumi! I’m calling you out!” That was when a rock knocked him flat.

“Go away, Hiro!” roared my daughter’s voice. “I’m busy doing much more important…”

“MEGUMI!” I shouted, hearing her. My daughter’s head then appeared. She saw us and jumped down.

“Let them go,” she threatened, “or I’ll…!”

“Begin the experiment,” ordered Hiro. A burbling sound was heard as a tiny bit of goo appeared behind her. Sludgiona then sprouted and grabbed Megumi from behind.

“LET HER GO!” demanded Fred. Hiro took out a ring and flung it at Megumi. It opened up and slapped around her neck. Sludgiona then released her as the collar started shocking her. After half a minute, her face went into a primal rage and my sweet, little girl turned into a cyborg Tiger monster! She gave off a roar before she seemed to calm down.

“YEE! YEE!” reported a Combatman.

“Excellent news!” chuckled Hiro. “The Neuro-collar works! Megumi is now under our control! I have the perfect test! Megumi, snap Haruna’s pitiful neck!” What happened next will always scare me. She moved slowly to obey!

“Megumi, please!” I begged, tears coming down. “I’m your mother! It’s me! Haruna Hishikawa! The one who saved you from his grasp once before!” She advanced on me. “Megumi! I beg you! Don’t do this!” She was right in front of me, her new form towering over me. Then, I heard a snap.

* * *

“YES! THE TEST IS SUCCESSFUL!” cheered Hiro. “I can’t believe it! I finally have my daughter under my control! We’ll conquer the multiverse in a flash! We’ll…! What do you want?!” he asked the Combatman that was tapping his shoulder. The Combatman pointed over to my location, where I was holding the crumbly remains of Okaa-san’s (mother) handcuffs.

“Hashire!” (Run!) I urged Okaa-san. When he saw Okaa-san run, Hiro goggled.

“Wha…?!” he spluttered. “What are you doing?! I said kill her!”

“Hiro-sama!” reported the Combatman. It seems us Shocker Cyborgs can understand what the Combatmen are saying when they say “YEE!” “The Neuro-collar is being rewritten!”

“Override!” ordered Hiro as he lined up his sights on my mother.

“I’m trying!” yelped the Combatman. “The transponder isn’t…!” I didn’t hear the rest of what he said as I ran towards Hiro, unsheathing my new claws.

“KON'ARO!” (shortened version of a phrase used when saying “You Bastard!”) I roared. Now, that phrase is one to avoid if you want to stay away from a fight in Japan. In this instance, I was aiming to start one. I swiped at Hiro so hard, he was sent spinning into a nearby pond. I took the liberty of destroying the collar. Okaa-san made it to safety as she turned to the enemy forces.

“It appears my daughter still has a will of her own,” she observed.

“MASAKA?!” (Are you kidding me?!) shouted Hiro as he got out, soaking wet. He turned to another Combatman. “Trace the problem to its source and fix it!”

“The problem is that you underestimated me again,” I declared. “Did you really think I wouldn’t try to use this form to my advantage?”

“You pest!” snarled Hiro. “You learned how to master it?!”

“I had help from Amazon,” I replied. Daisuke grinned. “He was getting me on the right track, but we had to deal with moments of uncontrollable rage. I blacked out during those events, but I took the time to meditate to try and understand that side. Now I know. It didn’t know what its prey was. Now, it has a clear picture of you.”

“Baka Ne!” (You dolt!) insulted Hiro as he changed into his Cyborg form. “I’ve been using this longer than you have!”

“Ikuze, Tora-otoko,” I challenged. We charged at each other and fought like animals. Meanwhile, Batman and the others fought off the enemy ranks to free the rest of the hostages. It took some time, but our families were freed!

“All right, that’s it!” swore Hiro as he loaded his i.d tag. “Henshin!” I got out my own.

“Henshin,” I whispered. We then formed our suits and clashed.

“I will enjoy ripping you in half!” declared Rogue.

“You can try,” I challenged. “You’ll fail, like always. Super Charge.”

“SUPER CHARGE!” roared Rogue. We ran at each other as we became more powerful and drew our respective blades. We kept striking until we entered a blade lock. “It doesn’t look like your belt has given you any more power!” laughed Proto-Rift.

“You rely too much on your tech,” I mused. “Besides, I can see freed hostages right now, one of my objectives is complete.” Proto-Rift whirled around to see Sheela’s parents being freed. The hostages were safe in the training field. Hongo then struck his henshin pose as Tanisha and Tonje took out their i.d tags.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” announced my friends. The trio then transformed and attacked the rest.

“I’ve just about had it! Dai Super Charge!” shouted Proto-Rift. His bulky armor flew off and we ducked in time. Rift then charged our ranks, knocking me down in the process. “Your heart may be in the right place, Megumi,” he snarled before he kicked me in the chest. “But, you have much to learn before you can, ever again, hope to stand your ground against me. A moment, sadly, that will never come!” He raised his blade.

“A-MA-ZON!” roared Daisuke’s voice. Amazon then tackled Rift. “Jaguar Shock!” he announced before he clamped his jaws onto Rift’s arm.

“GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!” shouted Okaa-san before she leapt onto Rift’s head and started slamming her fists down on his head. Rift then flung the two off him and grabbed their throats. At that time, my belt started glowing. I looked down, realizing what was going on.

“Are you…certain…I’m worthy of this power?” I asked.

“You have no idea,” assured Vortoranii. My belt then started compressing into its original shape, but it kept the cream and gold. While that was going on, Rift was talking to Amazon and Okaa-san.

“I never faced you before, wild-man,” he mused. “And you, lady, oh, I remember you! You ruined what would have been the greatest experiment ever. So, if you will both kindly die, I will…” His voice trailed off as Amazon looked behind him. Hiro turned to see me with the new belt. His helmet’s eyes showed his real ones went wide. He then tossed his captives to the ground and charged at me. I held my hands up in the air, like in my final Super Charge pose, rotated them down to cross in front of me, then moved my left fist to my hip and held my right hand out with my pinky and thumb down.

“Dai Super Charge!” I announced. I then got into a fighting stance as the bulk of my armor flew off. My power increased and the previous armor struck Rift, knocking him flat. He picked himself up as everyone saw what I looked like now. I couldn’t see, but I could feel the power radiating from me. “Batman, Ichigō, Wyldstyle, Gandalf, Hunt, Swing, Amazon-sensei, to me,” I declared. All the people I named ran right to me and formed up. “Minna, catchphrase time. I will finish this time.”

“Kamen Rider Swing!” began Swing. “I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“Kamen Rider Amazon!” called Amazon. “I show you who is true king of jungle!”

“Kamen Rider Vortex,” I declared. “Evil will ultimately bow to me.” Rift twitched before he called up someone on his communicator.

“Drop the mountain on them!” he ordered. We looked up to see a mountain falling towards us. I readied my blade, charged it with energy, and swung it. The energy slash cleaved the mountain in two and the halves fell away from us. Rift was trembling in rage. “Kamen Rider Rift!” he roared. “Stand and deliver!” He readied his blade, but we were too quick for him. Batman threw a batarang. Gandalf charged it with magic, thus it exploded on contact with Rift’s blade. Wyldstyle built a catapult, asked Amazon to step on, and launched him while Amazon readied himself for his finisher.

“DAI SETSUDAN!” he announced as he sliced into Rift. Ichigō, Hunt, Swing, and I leapt into the air for our kicks.

“RIDER KICK!”

“RIDER HUNT KICK!”

“RIDER SWING KICK!”

“RIDER VORTEX KICK!” Our kicks hit their mark and we landed. Rift’s transformation was canceled and Hiro started sparking. I got up to see that a look of defeat was in his eyes. “Hiro-san,” I commented, “I know we’ve had our differences and tried to kill each other.”

“I’m not hearing this!” snapped Okaa-san.

“But, I’m not without mercy,” I said assured. “Let us help you and I promise you WILL be safe from Vortech’s wrath.” I held out my hand. “What say you?” Hiro snarled.

“You…just want…information!” he spat. “And…even if you didn’t, I will never…accept help…from…you! You…robbed me…of my advantage! You robbed me…of any respect I’ve had within…Shocker Rift! You…disgraced me…in the eyes…of Igura! I have nothing! And…I will give you…nothing!” He stood up. “Shocker…Gundan……BANZAI!” (Long live the Shocker Army!). He exploded, leaving nothing but ash. The enemy retreated, taking Sludgiona with them.

“Stupid man!” shouted Hunt.

“Yes,” I muttered, “I was rather hoping he would accept.”

“What for?!” called Okaa-san.

“He was right,” I replied. “I needed information. I also wanted to show him that mercy isn’t weakness. It seems he didn’t accept that.”

“Vorton to Team Chima,” called X-PO’s voice. “We’re reading a massive power signature. What’s going on?”

“Megumi just became Kamen Rider Vortex,” reported Ichigō.

“And there was a hostage situation here in Chima,” I supplied. “Tell everyone that our loved ones are safe, but Ichimonji, Robin, MetalBeard, and Frodo are still in Vortech’s clutches.”

“And we’ve got the Foundation Element!” called Wyldstyle.

“I’ll open a rift!” cheered X-PO.

“Everyone!” roared a voice. Lagravis, Crominus, and Ewald came running up. Lagravis clapped eyes on me. “Who are you?” he asked.

“It’s me, Megumi, Your Majesty,” I assured as we cancelled our transformations.

“So, your training is over?” asked Ewald.

“Indeed, it is,” I confirmed. “We must be going now.” A portal opened for us.

“Will you stay with us?” Hongo asked Daisuke.

“I must go home,” replied Daisuke. “Call me if you need me.”

“We’ll get you home when we get to Vorton,” I promised.

“Before you go,” called Crominus as he drew out a bag, “my son found these. Please accept them as a gift for getting rid of Shocker Rift.” You guessed it. Studs.

“390,000 studs,” counted Vortoranii. “We’re at 2,004,000 now.” A rift opened for us.

“You have my thanks,” I said as I accepted the gift.

“And you have ours,” replied Lagravis. We bowed to each other before my team, our families, and I departed.


	40. Chapter 40

“That’s a joke, I’m sure?” asked Vortech.

“No, my lord,” sighed Sludgiona. “Hiro Adachi is dead. Kamen Rider Vortex has awoken.” Vortech went deep in thought and worry.

“We’ve just entered our darkest hour, then,” he mused. I felt weak in the knees.

“Pardon me,” I mumbled. I stumbled off to my quarters, my mind in a whirlwind of emotions. First my failure in _Jurassic World_ and now this?! My fiancée dead?! I finally reached my quarters and let myself collapse on the bed. My entire body was wracked with sobbing. I don’t know how long I was crying, but, Ambassador Hell opened my door.

“Igura,” he began, “given the…situation, Lord Vortech has ordered the building of a fallback position. But, know that you are free to use my troops to initiate a counter-attack against the…”

“COUNTER-ATTACK?!” I shrieked as I hurled a vase at Ambassador Hell’s head. He ducked. “Perhaps you fail to remember the reports of two Kamen Riders cleaving a mountain or flooding an island! With Vortex and Apocalypse having awoken, and our strongest warrior dead, our enemies can destroy us all with a wave of their hand! We must level the playing field, if not tip the balance of power back in our favor, in order to properly give Hiro the eternal rest that is his!”

“Is there not a weapon to rival their power?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“Correct, the Foundation Saber,” I replied. “But, it’s locked within the vaults of After Academy. Only students and staff can freely enter and exit that campus. Even then, only Lord Vortech can use it, and he has no intentions of doing so.” My tears were spent, as was my rage. If anything, Ambassador Hell’s words gave me the means to move on and come up with an idea. I started laughing. “But, I might get that access and wield that power if I were to control such genetic material!”

* * *

We arrived back on Vorton, the home team cheering at our return. Hiroki hugged both me and Okaa-san. There was a lot of hugging going on. Families were being reconnected. “Quite the reunion,” I called.

“So nice to see our families!” cheered Tonje as she hugged her mother and grandmother.

“Move aside!” declared Mrs. Linda Saunders. “I want to see my babies!”

“I beg your pardon?” asked Hiroki.

“My babies! Emily and Richard!” answered Linda.

“Didn’t they meet up with you?” asked Emmanuel as he helped his aged father sit down.

“No,” I replied. “I thought they would be here by now.” At that point, a rift opened and Lacey came through with Death, three other ladies who I presume the rest of Death’s team, and five other people, one man and four girls. The man wore a skirt. “Lacey, welcome,” I greeted. “I would have baked a cake for you, but we just found that Emily’s team hasn’t come back yet.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much,” assured Lacey. “They’re all right. They’re waiting for you guys.

“Then get us to the dimension they’re in!” demanded Fred. “I want to see my sweet, baby girl and my strong son!”

“But the Gateway can only send seven to a certain dimension,” I replied.

“Not with your current powers,” whispered Death. “You can go there without a Gateway and summon others. You just need to think of your targets.” When I heard that, I grinned like a maniac.

“Henshin!” I announced. My suit formed. “Super Charge!” The color changed and the suit bulked up. “And…Dai Super Charge!”

“HIT THE DECK!” warned Okaa-san. Everyone hit the floor as my armor flew off.

“Ooh! Can’t wait!” I giggled

“Nice suit!” complimented Hiroki. “What do you think of it?!”

“I was too busy fighting the late Hiro Adachi to find a mirror,” I replied.

“He’s dead?!” yelped Lukas.

“He blew himself up, rather than let us help him with his wounds,” I recounted. “The balance of power is in our favor.”

“I need to find him and collect him then,” whispered Death. “Lacey, sweetie, could you accompany Megumi in my place while she retrieves her friends?”

“Of course,” answered Lacey. “And, Megumi, if it’s a mirror you want…” she then summoned dark mist, let it surround her legs, made it grow, and then got it off her legs to make a mirror with a black frame.

“She can use magic?” muttered Gandalf.

“Magic beyond what you’re familiar with,” explained Lacey. I looked in the mirror to see my suit. It was gold with cream tiger stripes. It had a crown with three points, the middle one being the largest. There was a blue jewel in the crown’s center with my helmet’s antennae behind the crown. It had a cape and a skirt that opened under my belt, to allow for easy kicking, no doubt. My eyes were cream colored this time.

“Oooh, Megumi likes!” I giggled.

“With that kind of suit, and the power it supposedly comes with,” remarked Hiroki, “we may start calling you ‘Your Majesty’.”

“Queen Megumi Hishikawa,” mused Emmanuel. “I like the sound of that.”

“I’m not married,” I countered.

“Queen Elizabeth I was unmarried,” replied Joshua’s dad, Tim, “and she ruled England for some time.”

“How about this,” I suggested. “I’ll be called Queen Megumi ONLY by unanimous vote. All right?” Everyone nodded. “Good. With that out of the way, Lacey, why don’t you introduce your friends?”

“Gladly,” agreed Lacey. “This is War.”

“Greetings,” grunted the armored woman.

“Pestilence,” introduced Lacey.

“Hello,” wheezed the green woman as she waved.

“Famine,” announced Lacey.

“Hey!” mumbled the bony woman as she scarfed down some wings.

“And my classmates, Amelia,” continued Lacey

“Good evening,” answered the tall woman.

“Sophie,” announced Lacey.

“Yo,” said the short, stocky girl.

“Flora,” called Lacey.

“Um, hello,” said the plump girl, in a quiet, shy tone.

“Charline,” introduced Lacey.

“What’s up?” called the muscular girl.

“And Brendan,” finished Lacey.

“Nice to meet you,” greeted the man.

“My classmates have joined on as our heralds,” explained Lacey.

“Well then, welcome to the war against Vortech,” I said. “Now, with that out of the way, shall we? Lacey, Mr. and Mrs. Saunders, Mr. Kuznetsov, Mr. Archer, Mrs. Acqua, and Mr. Lin, care to join us?”

“Of course,” replied Mr. Longwear Lin. “I want to see my son!”

“Any idiot that keeps me a second longer from my little pirates,” hissed Mr. Sergei Kuznetsov, “is going to be a dead man.”

“Then let’s not wait a second longer,” I declared. “Let’s go! X-PO, the coordinates, if you please!”

“Coming up!” said X-PO. He beamed the info into my belt and I started concentrating. I focused on the parents, Lacey, and myself. All of a sudden, portals opened beneath us.

“I need to learn how to open them where I waaAAAAAAAAANT!!!!!!” I screamed as we all fell into the vortex. We tumbled, not so gracefully, through the vortex until we landed in front of a set of gates. We looked up to see the sign read “Jurassic World”.

“Seriously?” scoffed Linda. “Didn’t they learn from the first movie?”

“WHO YOU?!” boomed a voice. The earth shook in a rhythmic pattern, like footsteps, and a metal 80’s T-Rex stomped into view. It was grey with red eyes, was walking erect while dragging the tail, and had the hands down with the fingers pointing down. “What you doing here?!” roared the T-Rex.

“Grimlock?!” yelped Fred. The T-Rex turned its head.

“How you know Me Grimlock name?” snarled Grimlock.

“We come from another universe where…” I began.

“More?!” wailed Grimlock. “Why more coming here?! If you from Shocker Rift…!”

“No no no!” I halted. “Listen, we’re friends with other Riders! Have you seen Kamen Rider Touché?”

“For all Me Grimlock know,” boomed Grimlock, “you spies for Shocker Rift!”

“Signore Grimlock, aspetta un momento!” (Mister Grimlock, wait a minute!) called a voice.

“That voice!” recognized Mrs. Acqua. That was when a certain mermaid obsessed Italian woman ran up.

“Mamma!” cheered Livia.

“Livia, mia figlia preziosa!” (my precious daughter) called Mrs. Acqua as Livia hugged her. They started talking in their native Italian, with happy tears going down their faces.

“Er, Me Grimlock no understand why fish girl crying and hugging,” muttered Grimlock.

“Grimlock, I’d like you to meet my mother!” introduced Livia.

“Oh,” mumbled Grimlock, looking rather embarrassed.

“Mr. Grimlock!” called Fred.

“Er, yes?” quizzed Grimlock.

“I’m a huge fan of yours!” cheered Fred. “Could I get your autograph?!”

“Er, you have autograph pad?” floundered Grimlock, a little out of his depth.

“Can we focus on something else, like getting your children back?” I asked.

“Er, I’m sorry, Signorina, who are you?” Livia asked.

“What? Livia, it’s me! It’s…oh, wait, I’m still suited up. Hold on,” I replied. I then cancelled my transformation.

“Megumi?!” realized Livia. “You did it?!”

“I did it! I’m Kamen Rider Vortex now!” I confirmed.

“That lady one who train with beasts?” asked Grimlock.

“That’s the one!” replied Livia.

“Then she need to see her friends!” declared Grimlock. “Follow me, everyone!”

“Watch your step, though,” warned Lacey. “The place is a little wet.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I helped them out and flooded the place,” explained Lacey. The doors opened and we entered Lake _Jurassic World_. The place was flooded out. There were a few islands, one of them had a table with a lot of food. There, feasting, were Emily, Richard, Michael, Irina, Mikhail, and Haitao. There was a brunette teenage boy with green eyes, and Ursula the Sea Witch at the table as well.

“This is the good stuff,” sighed Richard. “A real homemade ice cream cone.” He raised his cone as he munched on his burger.

“You know,” mused the brunette, “I feel like I’m back at Burger Shack.”

“I’d love to try that stuff!” called Richard.

“With a smoothie in my hand,” continued the brunette, “and propping my feet up after a hard day’s battle.”

“Only,” joked Emily, “a hard day’s battle is just your typical Saturday of fun and games for you and Rook.”

“And Gwen and Kevin, don’t forget them,” supplied Richard.

“So, that IS Ben 10 I’m seeing,” I observed. Everybody turned to see us.

“Megumi?!” called Emily.

“Not just little old me,” I replied. I then moved to reveal our families.

“No way!” breathed Richard.

“Daddy?!” called Emily as tears of happiness glistened. Both Saunders kids ran to their parents and tackle-hugged them.

“Welcome, Lords and Ladies, to _Jurassic World_!” greeted Haitao.

“You utter scamps!” shouted Mr. Alexander Archer. “A merry hunt you’ve led us on, making us sick with worry, and we find you feasting!”

“Father, we are simply sitting of a field of victory, blessed by Nike herself,” countered Michael, “and we’re enjoying a few well-earned comforts. The salted pork is particularly good.”

“…S…Salted Pork?” muttered Mr. Archer, salivating slightly.

“We’re under orders to relax,” explained Mikhail as he and Irina pulled up a chair for Sergei. “Strict orders from Dinobot, who’s taken over management while the other Dinobots and Owen Grady deal with a problem.”

“What problem is that?” I asked.

“I called her Hillbilly Heather,” elaborated Emily.

“How’d SHE get out?!” yelped Mrs. Saunders. “I got charges to stick on her two years ago! After she tried to kill you when you didn’t commit suicide!”

“There’s a tale for you,” replied Emily. “Pull up a seat and I’ll tell it.”


	41. Chapter 41

We arrived at _Jurassic World_ and I was bouncing up and down like a little girl on Christmas. “Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs!” I giggled.

“Take it easy,” calmed Haitao. “You’re gonna gain hyper speed if you keep that up.”

“But…Dinosaurs!” I cheered. “And…park! And…Dinosaurs!”

“You already said ‘Dinosaurs’,” observed Michael.

“Because they’re awesome!” I called. “I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was a little girl!”

“And now, you’re studying current human anatomy,” muttered Mikhail.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you’re not excited to see Jurassic Park?!” I called.

“Jurassic Park, yes,” agreed Richard. “But, Jurassic World?” He pointed to the sign above the gate. It said, “Jurassic World”.

“Oh COME ON!!” I shouted. “One movie was enough!”

“Tell THAT to Hollywood,” muttered Richard. “Oh well, like life, the fandom will find a way.” I resorted to grumbling.

“Oh well, at least it can’t get any…uh oh…” I yelped. “Maybe that phrase doesn’t work in this universe!” Something then flew over the wall, nearly crushing us. We got out of the way, thank goodness. “Then again,” I sighed, “it’s probably a multiversal constant.” The object pushed itself up. It was Grimlock! “Well, I’ll be!” I chuckled.

“Dad’s favorite Transformer!” called Richard. “More so than Optimus!” Grimlock was in his T-Rex mode when he shook off the dirt.

“That not nice!” he shouted over the wall.

“Er, Mr. Grimlock,” I asked. “Who are you fighting?” Grimlock saw us.

“Not more!” he moaned.

“More?” I quizzed. “What’s going on?!”

“Me Grimlock not waste words!” boomed Grimlock.

“Er, I don’t like the sound of that,” gulped Michael. Grimlock transformed, leveling his gun at us! “I don’t like the look of it either!”

“Grimlock, wait!” I pleaded. “We’re not here to hurt you!”

“Funny, me not believe you!” roared Grimlock as he squeezed the trigger.

“Grimlock, stop!” called a voice. “They’re associates of mine!” The voice sounded familiar.

“You serious?!” roared Grimlock as he turned to his left. A brunette woman with wavy hair came up, sporting cold, yet lovely eyes, a pale blue dress with a slightly darker corset, and a golden seashell necklace.

“You again?!” I called.

“Hello, Dr. Saunders, Ms. Kuznetsov,” greeted the woman.

“You know crazy witch lady?” asked Grimlock.

“She was someone that I saved along with Irina,” I explained.

“What are you doing here, Ursula?” asked Irina.

“Vanessa, you mean,” corrected Ursula. “Here’s the thing, I made a deal with Ursula when I was young. I was afflicted with a disease that no one could cure at the time. No one WANTED to, as I didn’t conform to the ideal image a woman was supposed to be at the time, in 1427. So, I met a young girl who was recently banished from her kingdom. She was the first undersea dweller I met, a Cecaelia. She was cast aside because of her natural abilities with magic. I felt a kinship with her and so told her my story. She told me of the conditions of her banishment, being stripped of magic, and so needed someone who was cast out of society to regain her magic. I asked her how the process would be done. She said it needed the two outcasts to meld with each other, body and soul, and she had the means to do so.” She lightly touched on the shell. “With the Gold Nautilus, Ursula and I joined and became one. Two minds, one body that changes, one soul.”

“So, it’s like Split-personality, but the body changes with the personality?” I ventured.

“In a sense, yes,” shrugged Ursu…Vanessa. “Now, Miss Irina, if memory serves, you were about to deck Ursula in the face when Starscream trapped us.”

“That option remains in play,” hissed Irina.

“I would expect nothing less,” chuckled Vanessa with a wicked grin. “But, for now, I have a proposal.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Join me in defeating our shared enemies.”

“You have all sorts of power,” argued Livia. “Why ask for our help?”

“Because the enemies have something I lack that I’m sure you lot have,” replied Vanessa, “knowledge on a device called the Omnimatrix.”

“You mean the Omnitrix?!” I yelped. “Why should we fight Ben?!”

“Ben?” asked Vanessa. “No, a girl called Heather. She managed to extract the Omnitrix from Mr. Tennyson and threw him in an underground genetics lab, along with his grandfather, cousin, police partner, and villain turned friend.”

“Heather?” I quizzed, making sure I heard the name right.

“I don’t know much about her,” replied Vanessa. “In any case, she’s got allies, an unholy melding of flesh and metal, a humanoid squid, a talking jet, and your enemies, Shocker Rift, I believe.”

“Trying to find the Foundation Element, no doubt,” guessed Haitao.

“In any case, our past alliances, villain, hero, Dinobot, Maximal, they no longer matter,” declared Vanessa. “Not while the enemy is in control!” That was when the earth shook in a rhythm, like footsteps.

“Oh, Ursie! Grimmy!” boomed a deep, feminine voice. “Guess who’s the little chickadee who unlocked a Vaxasaurian!”

“Little chickadee?” repeated Richard. “Didn’t…no, she’s in prison, right?”

“You don’t think…” I guessed. That was when a female Vaxasaurian stomped through the trees. Vaxasaurians are a beige, humanoid, dinosaur-like species from the planet Terradino. They have four fingers on each hand with large grey nails, possess dinosaur tails and reach up to twelve feet. Females dress in caveman clothing and wear bones to attract mates. This Vaxasaurian had a black circle between her navel and bust with a green hourglass inside. Her eyes were green as she looked up at Grimlock, who was at least ten feet taller than her.

“Me no afraid of you!” roared Grimlock. “Me still bigger than you!!”

“Really now?” asked the Vaxasaurian in a hillbilly drawl. She then demonstrated a Vaxasaurian’s natural ability to grow up to five times its original height, in this case, sixty feet. She grinned evilly at us.

“…Me need to have Perceptor, Wheeljack, and Ratchet work on me Grimlock’s mouth/brain filter programs,” mumbled Grimlock.

“That won’t save you,” growled the hillbilly Vaxasaurian. “I’ll squash you and then squash that fat, rose obsessed freak! She never removed her impure, fat body from the planet and managed to get me…”

“In prison!” I shouted, realizing who the Vaxasaurian really was. “That’s where xenophobic murderers like you will always rot, Hillbilly Heather!” The Vaxasaurian looked at me and got angry.

“You!” she growled. She slapped down on the hourglass symbol and shrunk, changing shape into a muscular, bipedal, tailless tiger. Her front was white, as well as her muzzle, feet, and hands. She had four fingers on each hand with a large, black claw coming out of the wrist, pointing to the fingers. Her eyebrows were boned and black in the shape of anger. The symbol was still in between her navel and bust and she wore a leotard and black shorts. “rrrrRRRRRAAAAAYYYYYGGGE!” she roared.

“You mean Rath!” I roared back

“LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’, EMILY SAUNDERS, THE FATSO WHOSE MOTHER PUT ME IN PRISON!” bellowed Heather, “HEATHER HAS THE OMNITRIX, SO HEATHER NAMES THE ALIENS! AND HEATHER’S NAME FOR THIS FORM IS RAYGE!” She then went on all fours and charged. I dodged and whipped out the i.d tag.

“Henshin!” I announced. My team followed suit.

“HENSHINNING’S GOOD!” roared Heather. “RAYGE CAN HENSHIN ALL DAY!” Vanessa then fired energy blasts at Heather who shrugged it off. “THAT’S ANOTHER MISTAKE, URSULA THE SEA WITCH!” yelled Heather. “WHEN YOU SHOOT RAYGE, IT JUST MAKES RAYGE MAD!!”

“Bad kitty!” shouted a voice. A spear of black mist flew past Heather’s Appoplexian face. Everyone turned to see Death with nine others, just one young man among the other ladies. The young man and five young ladies were in grey sweaters with an ascot, each in a different color, and wore a really large skirt with petticoats reaching to the ankles that matched the colors of their ascots.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” bellowed Heather. “You wanna fight me?! LET’S GO!!”

“Believe me when I say,” grunted the orange skinned, armored woman, “you do not give credit to the Appoplexians. One of my spouses is one and he would call you a disgrace.”

“LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’, ORANGE MONGREL!” roared Heather. “RAYGE WILL TEAR YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND APART!!” She charged at the woman, who managed to hold her back with her pinky.

“Pathetic,” grunted the woman. She flicked Heather’s forehead, sending her into the wall of Jurassic World. “You, a weakling that subscribes to racial purity, specifically white purity, dare challenge me? I am War, and it is diversity that makes my troops stronger!” The woman, War, drew a large sword and charged at Heather. Heather started glowing and slammed her claw into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked War off her feet.

“War, get back!” whispered Death. “She’s carrying the Foundation Element of 8-3-N-1-0!”

“What?!” yelped War.

“The Omnitrix is a Foundation Element?!” I shouted.

“Power of that magnitude was never yours!” snarled War. She charged at Heather while getting a belt out. The buckle looked like a grey sphere with a sword of the same color halfway out. She put the belt on. “HENSHIN!” she bellowed. She slid the sword down so the guard rested on the sphere. Orange light filled the air, then faded as War’s Rider form decked Heather. The entire suit was orange armor with a black undersuit. The helmet was pointed with red eyes and a fearsome fanged teeth decal over where the mouth should be. Swords roughly the length of her lower leg were pointed towards her feet.

“War, NO!” warned the raven-haired girl in white petticoats. Too late. Kamen Rider War kicked but flew through the air as Heather dodged. Heather then grabbed War’s leg and flung her into us.

“All right, that’s it!” I hissed. “I’m declaring this Hillbilly Heather Hunting season!”

“I’M AFRAID IT’S ALREADY FATTY HUNTING SEASON!” roared Heather. She charged at me but missed as I dodged.

“Like I’m afraid of an amateur fighter like you!” I boasted. “It’s Appoplexian Hillbilly Heather hunting season!”

“FATTY SEASON!” roared Heather as she decked me. I recovered.

“Rayge season!” I argued as I kicked her stomach. She recovered.

“FATTY SEASON!” roared Heather. She slammed her fists on my head. I shook my head from the disorientation.

“Rayge Season!” I countered as I tripped her up. Rayge got up again and grabbed me by the throat.

“FATTY SEA…!” began Heather. War then kicked her in the back. I summoned my horse and converted it to flight mode. A plan was in my head. As I was lifting off, Heather recovered. “HEY! LET ME TELL YA SOMTHIN’, EMILY SAUNDERS, THE FATSO WHOSE MOTHER PUT ME IN PRISON! NOBODY GOES UNLESS RAYGE SAYS THEY CAN GO! ‘CAUSE RAYGE GOES BEFORE EVERYBODY! SO, NO GO, YO!” I went higher and Heather grabbed onto my vehicle. “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?! ‘CAUSE RAYGE’S GOT TONS MORE! IN FACT, I SHOULD GIVE YOU SOME OF MINE, SO IT’LL BE A FAIR FIGHT! AND, AFTER THAT, EVERYTHING I GAVE YOU, I’M GONNA TAKE IT ALL BACK AND MAKE YOU LIKE IT!” I was over Jurassic World and made a nose dive for one of the streets. “CRASHING’S GOOD TOO! RAYGE CAN CRASH ALL DAY!” I did a barrel-roll, insert Star Fox meme here, and managed to get her off. “OH, AND NOW YOU’RE USING GRAVITY?! WELL, GIVE UP GRAVITY! YOU CAN’T BEAT RRRRAAAAYYYGGGE!” She hit the ground, hand first, and her claw was stuck in the pavement. I stuck around long enough to see her trying to pull the claw out. “LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’, PAVEMENT OF MAIN STREET! LET GO OF RAYGE’S CLAW!” I rejoined the others.

“It’ll be a while before she gets out somehow,” I figured.

“Then we need to go,” grunted War as she cancelled her transformation.

“We run away?!” wailed Grimlock.

“It’s not running away!” snarled War. “We’re consolidating our resources…further away from the battlefield.”

“My offer still stands,” called Vanessa. It took a few seconds to consider before a flash of green light came from the park.

“She must have transformed,” I guessed. “All right, we’re in, but Death and the others are coming with us.”

“You CAN be counted on to listen to reason,” praised Vanessa. “Grimlock, dear, if you please?” Grimlock called up their home base.

“Grimlock to base, requesting Ground-Bridge,” he demanded. “We have more people.” A swirling green vortex opened.

“Richard, you’re the biggest _Transformers_ nut in our family,” I recalled. I had already admitted I was a fan of the G1 universe to the F.N.S, the original cartoon, the old Marvel comics, and _Beast Wars_ , and it felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. “Maybe you spotted a Ground-Bridge in the early cartoon? Because I don’t remember either side having one.”

“No, the Ground-Bridge is a recent invention,” answered Richard. “Debuted in _Transformer: Prime_. I don’t know how G1 Grimlock got ahold of one.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” whispered Death. “Right now, we need to regroup and introduce ourselves.”

“If you could step this way,” offered Vanessa as she went through the vortex. Grimlock followed, then Death and her team, then I covered the retreat, in case Heather blind-sided us. After I stepped through, I was led to a large, underground bunker. The other Dinobots saw us and started asking questions.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!!” snarled a voice. A brown velociraptor stomped into view. “The absurdity of you Dinobots knows no bounds!” growled the dinosaur.

“Dinobot?” Richard and I both yelped. The velociraptor faced us.

“I take it YOU are from another universe,” guessed Dinobot. “Dinobot, MAXIMIZE!” Dinobot shifted to robot mode, complete with snarling blue face. “So, what brings you here?”

“We’re here to get something called the Foundation Element,” I answered. “An object unique to this universe that keeps it in the multiverse, thus keeping all of space-time in check.”

“I have not seen anyone else in my universe asking for such an object,” answered Dinobot.

“No, but, from what Vanessa’s told us, you’ve seen one in action, the Omnitrix,” I replied. “And it’s in the hands of a psycho that nearly killed me.”

“So, we have a common enemy,” mused Dinobot as he got out of my face. He was easily nine and a half feet. “And these are your friends?”

“Well, seven of them are,” I replied, “but I don’t know the rest.”

“Then, perhaps,” suggested Dinobot, “introductions are in order. I am Dinobot!” Vanessa slid into a large pool of water and turned back into Ursula.

“I am Ursula, and my human form is Vanessa,” she introduced.

“Me, Grimlock.”

“I’m Slag,” called the Triceratops.

“Call me Swoop,” declared a bot with folded Pteranodon wings.

“I’m Snarl,” called a bot with Stegosaurus plates on his back.

“I’m Sludge,” cheered a big-footed bot.

“I’m Emily Saunders, mission leader for my team,” I began.

“I’m Richard, Emily’s brother.”

“I am Haitao Lin.”

“I’m Livia Acqua.”

“Michael Archer, ladies and gentlemen,” Michael bowed.

“Irina Kuznetsov.”

“I’m her brother, Mikhail.”

“I am Death.” Everyone shied away from her. “I’m not here on THAT kind of business. No one’s dying right now.”

“I am War.”

“I’m Pestilence,” wheezed the green skinned woman.

“I’m Famine,” mumbled the bony, yellow haired woman as she stuffed her face.

“I am Lacey Thanatos,” introduced the raven-haired girl. “And, if things go well, Kamen Rider Apocalypse.” She adjusted her hair flower.

“Um…my name…is…Flora Nightly,” whispered a plump girl with white petticoats and ascot. She had blue hair and a pink rose on a green bow on the left side of her hair. It was obvious she was shy.

“I’m Charline Elmira,” cheered a muscular girl with brown, wavy hair and orange petticoats and an ascot.

“Call me Sophie Moore,” called a short girl with hair as white as Tonje’s, a black headband, and dark blue petticoats and ascot.

“I’m Amelia Kendall,” introduced a tall girl with lavender hair, a yellow circle on her forehead, and green petticoats and ascot.

“And I’m Brendan Patterson,” finished the boy. He had black hair, the same yellow forehead circle as Amelia, and yellow petticoats and ascot.

“What brings you here, Death?” asked Livia.

“I’ll let Lacey explain it,” replied Death. Lacey grinned.

“I’m here to take my final test to become Kamen Rider Apocalypse,” she declared. “I had to take written and practical tests from the Four Horsemen, I took the written bit of my final, now I have the practical bit to do.”

“So, you need to destroy a universe?” asked Ursula.

“Hardly,” assured Lacey. “I’m supposed to show how much control I have over my powers.”

“And why are your classmates here?” asked Dinobot.

“After an…incident,” began Brendan, I noticed he was careful with how he phrased it, “the five of us became heralds of the apocalypse.”

“Basically, we warn people their world will end,” explained Amelia.

“And help the Horsemen fight those who want to hurt the multiverse,” said Flora, quietly.

“A little micromanagement,” I mused.

“But, enough about us,” called Lacey. “What brings Dinobot and his namesakes here?”

“Ursula too, for that matter,” I mused. “I thought you would be back in your universe.”

“I didn’t wake up in my universe,” explained Ursula. “I was in Vortech’s grip, a prisoner, away in a dungeon. The Dinobots and Dinobot were there with me. They tried to get me to spill on where my universe’s Foundation Element was.”

“Me too,” supplied Grimlock. “But me didn’t know what Foundation Element even was until Emily explained it.”

“Same with me, but Vortech didn’t believe us,” continued Ursula. “Eventually, we escaped by following Igura here and are trying to get ourselves back.” I started mulling over what Ursula said.

“All right, it seems we can solve all our problems here,” I resolved. “My people have the tech needed to get you guys home and we have a Foundation Element vault. We also have knowledge of our enemies. If you guys help us get the Omnitrix and Ben and his team back, along with this universe’s Foundation Element, we can get you guys home. Deal?”

“Usually, I’M the one who makes deals,” mused Ursula, “but, we’re pressed for time. Deal.”

“Sounds good to me,” whispered Death, “but, do you mind if my team and I joined you on Vorton?”

“Don’t mind at all,” I replied. “I’m sure Megumi would love the help.”

“You have deal with Dinobots,” rumbled Grimlock.

“All right!” I cheered.

“And my services are at your disposal,” answered Dinobot.

“All right, we need to find a way into the park as that’s where the enemy seems to be concentrating itself. Most likely, the Foundation Element is there,” I guessed. “I have some ideas of a plan, but it’ll take timing, cooperation, and it’s extremely dangerous when we carry them out.” The Dinobots started smiling. “Everybody else in?” I asked.

“Let’s do it!” cheered Richard.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” boasted Lacey.

“I shall prove to our enemies what happens when a Sea Witch is trifled with!” snarled Ursula.

“Then let’s get to work,” I declared “First off, we share info. I’ll start with the Omnitrix. As you can tell, the Omnitrix is a device that can turn you into any alien life-form. The life-forms are all arranged in playlists of ten. As of now, the Omnitrix has 1,000,912 aliens. 99 are unlocked, 70 have been named, and the original holder, Ben Tennyson, has transformed into 62. You saw what a Vaxasaurian can do, but you need knowledge on that tiger alien, the Appoplexian. Richard, take over.”

“Appoplexians,” supplied Richard, “are powerful, argumentative, and extremely aggressive. Their brains are hard-wired for anger. They believe any problem can be solved by hitting it. The traditional greeting of an Appoplexian is to engage in a wrestling match to establish who’s dominant.”

“Sound like Me Grimlock’s kind of people!” cheered Grimlock.

“They also have Sludge’s level of dimness,” replied Richard.

“…Would you repeat that?!” snarled Sludge. He was cleaning his gun.

“Of course not, I’m sorry I said it,” said Richard, hurriedly.

“I should hope so,” muttered Sludge.

“The Omnitrix has the ability to scan and analyze new DNA,” warned Richard, “so, Cybertronians should watch themselves.”

“Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa,” I stopped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, yeah,” realized Richard. He didn’t tell me earlier when I pretended not to like the Transformers. “Cybertronians have something call CNA, Cyber-nucleic acid.”

“…And that’s their genetic code?!” I yelped. “They have base pairs like us that determine traits?!”

“Yeah,” confirmed Richard.

“I confess, I’m amazed you didn’t know,” rasped Dinobot.

“When was this revealed?!” I asked.

“Same series as the Ground-Bridge,” explained Richard.

“Okay, now that THAT bomb’s been dropped,” I muttered. “Time to teach you about the Omnitrix’s current user. Heather is an old bully from way back. She views everyone that isn’t someone like her has impure genetics. She found me as an easy target and made fun of and hit me whenever she got a chance. My parents, friends, brother, and I tried everything, but the school system wouldn’t deliver justice. I was near enough to commit suicide and I was about to write a note when I heard the door open. I deleted the note to see Mom looking frustrated. She’s a member of the Fredericksburg Police and was investigating a crime. Judging by the face, I’d say it wasn’t going well. A string of burglaries and attacks on citizens was rampant all over Fredericksburg. Some victims died while the ones that didn’t were blinded by someone in stealth gear. When she showed me an image, the shape looked familiar. ‘Did you get a DNA match on anyone?’ I asked her.

“‘I tried, but we couldn’t find anyone,’ replied Mom. ‘Why?’

“‘The body type looks a lot like a classmate,’ I answered. ‘We’re doing a DNA swab thing at school tomorrow. Can you guys do anything on them?’

“‘Well, given that the scientists have to give us the data on the DNA,’ replied Mom, ‘we should.’

“‘It may be that I’m wrong, but I think the person you’re after goes to my school,’ I guessed. Mom seemed to consider this. The next day, Heather was surprised to see me. I grinned sweetly as we went to science class. We did the whole cotton swab thing and went on with our lives. Later, at night, the perp came in through my bedroom window. It came up to my desk where ‘I’ sat. The perp then stabbed ‘me’ in the back of my head. The perp then lifted the mask to make her final mistake. It was Heather.

“‘Fatty, you REALLY should have let your depression take over,’ she sighed. ‘It would have made things easy for both of us. You’re dead, so I can explain easily. You come from a long line of mongrels. I, on the other hand, am pure. That’s why my victims are hurt or killed. So many people badger on and on and on about diversity making us stronger when that is a fat lie! Fatter than you were! Diversity just gobbles up pure ideals and tries to mix them! It destroys perfect civilizations!’

“‘It brings new wisdom and new culture!’ I roared, making Heather gasp. ‘It makes a better civilization!’

“‘What in the name of…?’ yelped Heather. ‘How?! I skewered you like a sow from the pen, ready for barbeque!’

“‘You Backwoods Blunder!’ I insulted. ‘We’re not playing chess! We’re playing poker!’ The lights came on to reveal the large doll she thought was me. The police and I came into the room. ‘And I was bluffing!’ I finished.

“‘Heather Richards, you’re under arrest!’ roared an officer.

“‘The newspaper had your disguised image from when you robbed Hyperion Espresso!’ I declared. ‘The body shape looked familiar, but I needed to be sure.’

“‘So, you convinced your mother to get a copy of the results of the DNA swab test!’ hissed Heather.

“‘Ding! Ding! Ding!’ I confirmed. ‘But, the police had no idea you held to out of date ideals like ‘racial purity.’ Honestly, I’m surprised you’re NOT the result of inbreeding.’

“‘I’ll see you in Hell, mongrel!’ promised Heather. ‘I’ll be found innocent!’ The thing is, she was wrong. She was guilty as Hell and sentenced to ten years in prison.” Everybody was wide-eyed when I finished my story.

“I was with my old Robotics club at the time she was arrested!” yelped Richard. “Why didn’t you tell me you were that close to committing suicide?! Or Mom and Dad, for that matter!”

“I asked them not to tell you,” I replied. “And, at the time, I didn’t want you to worry about me. In hindsight, I made a mistake.”

“A big, fat one!” agreed Richard. “Still, now I know what the events were that got Heather locked up. Now, we need to figure out how she got out.”

“Before that,” I switched gears, “Dinobot, Dinobots, do you have any idea about the talking jet?”

“No, but Ursula claims to see it,” replied Dinobot.

“Ursula, can you describe it?” I asked.

“It was white with red and blue and had purple symbols on the wings,” answered Ursula. She made an image of the Decepticon logo. “It spoke in a screechy voice too,” continued Ursula.

“Him again?!” I snapped.

“First, he invades my mind, and now this?!” snarled Irina.

“You know him?” asked Dinobot.

“It’s a he?” quizzed Ursula.

“His name is Starscream,” I replied. “He’s the second-in-command of the Decepticons, Grimlock’s enemies.”

“And enemies of Autobots,” growled Grimlock.

“But, how does Starscream have a body again?!” asked Dinobot.

“For those who don’t know,” supplied Richard, “a recreated form of Megatron vaporized him, but his spark, soul and heart of a Transformer, is a mutant one. It can’t fade away, so he comes off as a ghost.”

“A robot ghost?” muttered Lacey. “Now I’ve heard everything!”

“And there’s a humanoid squid and unholy fusion of flesh and steel,” reported Ursula.

“We can name both of them,” whispered Death. “They were both on watch after the events in their native universes. The squid is one that Ben Tennyson faced numerous times since he was ten years old.”

“Not Vilgax!” I moaned.

“The Ruler of Vilgaxia, himself,” confirmed Death.

“That doesn’t add up,” muttered Richard.

“Why?” asked Michael.

“Vilgax wants the Omnitrix,” I explained, helping Richard. “So, why would he let Heather have it?”

“To fulfill his end of his alliance with the…how did Ursula put it…unholy fusion of flesh and steel,” wheezed Pestilence. “I can put a name to him, for Dinobot flew to Prehistoric Earth on the same ship with him.”

“One of my former Predacon colleagues?” asked Dinobot.

“Much worse,” wheezed Pestilence. “He hates organic life, took a famous Decepticon’s name, and turned into what fans called an evil Barney the Dinosaur.”

“Evil…Barney…no! No, it can’t be!” I gulped.

“Oh, but it is, yeeesss!” wheezed Pestilence.

“Megatron?! Impossible!!” snarled Dinobot.

“Another one?!” wailed Grimlock.

“The way you guys are talking,” I sighed, “it sounds like he became a techno-organic Transformer.”

“He did, and he hates that form,” grunted War.

“I picked up a conversation between him and Vilgax,” called Charline. “It was for a recon assignment for War.”

“She passed with top marks, as usual,” grunted War as she grinned with pride.

“Thank you,” reciprocated Charline. “It was in a universe that was a barren wasteland. Megatron had gotten the Omnitrix first. He transformed in a glowy, purple aura from beast to bot and got the Omnitrix to his left wrist. It expanded to fit around a wrist his size. ‘Yes!’ he cheered. ‘I have control over a Foundation Element! And, with it, I can escape this wretched, misshapen form!’ This Omnitrix is the one that was used in _Ben 10: Omniverse_ , a square watch design with a holographic selection ring. Megatron started scrolling through the aliens and his smile dropped with each passing alien. ‘There’s no Cybertronian form in here!’ he snarled. ‘All the other lists are locked! I’m still stuck in this hideous frame!’

“‘Technical difficulties?’ asked a voice. Vilgax then stomped into view.

“‘Not really,’ dismissed Megatron as he regained his composure. ‘It has come to my attention that Cybertronian genetic material is not in the Omnitrix’s database. I cannot use this wretched form as it’s hardly pure machine. Once I scan a pure Cybertronian, I’m cured.’

“‘Not an easy task,’ mused Vilgax. ‘Admit it, Megatron. We need Heather, we need Shocker Rift and its associates, and, more importantly, we need each other.’

“‘No, I NEED the Omnitrix to cure me of this fleshy form,’ argued Megatron. ‘You, on the other hand, WANT it to defeat this ‘Ben Tennyson’. That’s a bad basis for an alliance.’

“‘I no longer need THE Omnitrix,’ declared Vilgax. ‘Not when one is being made for me. I have enough clout to make one for you with pure Cybertronian CNA.’

“‘And, in exchange?’ asked Megatron.

“‘I require your technology,’ demanded Vilgax. ‘A powerful weapon as the Omnitrix for your most powerful Cybertronian weapon.’ Megatron stared for a while, then started laughing.

“‘That’s it?’ he chuckled. ‘You have gall, Vilgax. I admire gall, yeeesss! We have a bargain!’ At that point, I decided to withdraw and report.” Charline’s news sunk in.

“What’s our move here?” asked Livia. It took a while, but I came up with a plan.

“All right,” I declared, “here’s what we’ll do…”


	42. Chapter 42

After Megumi called us, it took a full four weeks to get my plan into action, on account of getting us to work together. Did I mention how dim the Dinobots can be? In any event, I got us into different teams. Dinobot and the Dinobots were in position. “All right,” I whispered. “On my signal. Wait. Wait! NOW!” The dinosaur based bots charged through the wall and started creating havoc.

“MAXIMIZE!” announced Dinobot as he leapt into the air. He landed on Starscream and started slashing with his sword.

“Argh! You again?!” screeched Starscream. He tried to shake Dinobot off, but to no avail.

“I shall enjoy ripping that mutant spark of yours out of your spark chamber!” snarled Dinobot. While that was going on, the Dinobots were tearing into the Combatmen. This was the first time they were told to squish humans. Vilgax showed up.

“What is going on?!” he roared.

“Lacey! Now!” I shouted. Lacey and her classmates and teachers surrounded Vilgax. He started laughing.

“Pitiful fools!” he said. “What can YOU hope to accomplish?”

“Henshin!” announced Lacey and her associates. They entered their suits. Death had a navy undersuit with black armor, a skeletal motif, a black cowl, and scythe blades on the forearms. Pestilence had green armor with jagged teeth and some sort of barrel on the legs. Famine’s armor was yellow with a hinged jaw. Lacey’s armor looked like a mix with Famine’s helmet with a brown hat, War’s left leg, Pestilence’s right leg, and Death’s arms. Her classmates wore the same armor of black coloration, a featureless helmet, and carried a short sword. They managed to keep Vilgax busy.

“That’s our cue!” I called. We made our way to the genetics lab to find Ben and his friends tied up, unconscious. “Okay, let’s go!” I declared.

“No touchy!” drawled a voice. It was Heather, in all her pig-tailed, torn, denim shorts, sunflower yellow blouse wearing “glory”, accompanied by Megatron. Ursula was NOT kidding when she said he was an unholy fusion of flesh and steel. He was in T-Rex mode, complete with wires and circuits woven into the purple scales, a Techno-organic Evil Barney.

“Megatron?” I asked. “What did you do to yourself?”

“Even organics find my current shape appalling,” muttered Megatron. “Since Primal threw us into the techno-organic core of Cybertron…”

“You’re to blame as well!” snapped Richard.

“It was Optimus’ folly, and his alone!” growled Megatron. “And now, the flesh I abhor keeps me alive! I can never obtain the purity I deserve, nor can I spread that purity through the universe! I have become a walking contradiction!”

“What you’ve become is a common low-life! Same level as her!” I roared as I pointed to Heather. “You! Hillbilly Heather! Start talking!”

“It’s…just…Heather!” hissed Heather. “After your mother got me put away for years by calling my crusade of racial purity ‘unholy’, I thought up exotic ways to get out! Yet, the guards wouldn’t let me resume my crusade! For a while, I was content to rot, until a rift opened for little ol’ me. The thought of escaping was stampeding through my mind and I jumped at the opportunity. I ended up in Lord Vortech’s realm with an offer to make a pure universe. Given that I needed purity, how could I refuse? I was sent to obtain something called a Foundation Element and ended up in Plumber HQ. The scanner I was given was going crazy when I faced Ben Darling here, so I decided to get the watch from him. As you can see, I had the tech to do so and now have it on my person.” She held up the Omnitrix, a square watch face and simple band. “Now, let’s see, something that will let me control my anger,” muttered Heather as she brought up a holographic selection ring. She stopped on one and slid back the faceplate to reveal a cylinder with the Omnitrix symbol on top. “Ice Moth seems like a good one,” mused Heather. She pressed the core down and morphed into a blue, humanoid, moth-like alien. “Ice Moth!” she whispered.

“You mean Big Chill!” I called.

“Like I said, my Omnitrix, my naming rights,” hissed Heather.

“We need to get that off her!” declared Richard.

“Ready!” I called. We got our i.d tags out.

“Henshin!” we announced. As we transformed, Megatron got between us and Heather.

“No, not this time!” roared Megatron. “I will NOT be denied perfection!”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news for you,” I replied, “but that’s the ultimate evolution for Transformers.”

“Nonsense!” roared Megatron.

“It’s true! I looked it up!” I insisted.

“I believe the popular phrase flying around is ‘check your facts’,” growled Megatron.

“We’re not worried about you,” boasted Clash. “I heard a thing or two about bots like you from Guard here. You need to find your balance between beast and machine to assume your bipedal robot mode.”

“And you hate your current organic half outright,” I continued. “So, I don’t see you transforming any time soon.”

“Oh, but, you see, I CAN transform, yeeesss!” countered Megatron. “I’ve found my balance. My organic half loathes me and wants me out of beast mode. My technological half sees no reason to argue. And, because of nostalgia, I feel the need to use my old activation code. Megatron, TERRORIZE!” Glowing rings of light then appeared around his neck, beast mode shoulders and hips, and tail. They traveled down the ligaments to change the form. The beast head shrunk to become a head we were familiar with, the arms grew and gained extra fingers on the hands, thumbs too, and the feet became more humanoid…as humanoid as dino feet could get. He retrieved a sword from his subspace with the guard looking like a T-Rex head spitting the sword out. “Time to be turned to ash, organics, yeeesss!” declared Megatron.

“En Garde,” I challenged. I turned to the team. “Get the Omnitrix off Heather!”

“Will do!” replied Richard. Megatron guffawed.

“Sending your flunkies away to fight me alone?” he laughed as the team attacked Heather as best they could, given that her current form, a Necrofriggian, can exhale ice generating gas and can turn intangible, allowing her to turn an object she phased through into ice if she so desired. “How gutless!” continued Megatron.

“How is taking care of you gutless?” I asked.

“Because suicide is the coward’s way out!” roared Megatron. That struck a nerve with me.

“Don’t talk to me about a coward’s way out,” I hissed. “I nearly went down that path!” Megatron and I clashed. I decided to whack one of his nerves. “Be honest, who’s the bigger threat in your eyes?”

“I am, of course!” boasted Megatron. I knew it! I started laughing. “What are you laughing at?! Unicron take you, why are you laughing?!”

“Of all the egos I met, you just topped Miss Purity over there,” I laughed. “I’m taking care of a minor annoyance while my team takes care of a big threat.”

“…What?” hissed Megatron.

“Do you honestly believe YOU’RE a major threat?” I asked. I shoved Megatron away. “Vilgax, he’s deadlier than you. One of my allies, Ursula, she’s deadlier than you. Hell, even Starscream’s deadlier than you! You simply want to turn organic life into ash, replace it with machine life, and remove individuality, neat-o. What happens after that?”

“I will replace individuality with a single, elegant machine,” declared Megatron. “The future will have one single guiding intelligence!”

“After that, what will that intelligence, that is YOU, do?” I asked.

“I will rule my universe! I shall become the very definition of perfection!” boomed Megatron.

“Okay, after that?” I quizzed.

“I…don’t understand…” faltered Megatron.

“What will you do to pass the time?” I elaborated. “Will you create new life? Not likely since it’s different from you and will most likely be destroyed. You won’t just be a superior being in the universe, you will be the only being in the universe. Who can you talk to? Not your drones since they’re just extensions of your will. So, again, I ask you, what will you do when you’ve achieved your goals?” At this point, Megatron dropped his blade. He started clutching his head as if my question were giving him a headache.

“Techno…technological purity is…is…important…!” he got out.

“Yes,” I replied, “but why do you WANT that goal?” I cancelled my transformation as I heard Heather say, in a burbly voice, “MUCK!”

“GOOP, YOU MEAN!” roared Guard. Megatron didn’t hear. He was too busy trying to explain himself.

“Everything should…and must…be metal!” he strained.

“And when you fulfill that purpose,” I said in a louder tone, “what will your purpose be?!” Megatron was twitching as if Energon Field Build-up was relevant to him. “What will be your next achievement when you made the ultimate achievement? Is having a purely technological body just an end? Well, that can’t be right because you had that during the Beast Wars, even before then!” I started circling him. “So, go ahead and make your kingdom of the pure! Let Megatron be everything! The machine, the reality! Become everything there is down to the tiniest atom so that you are, literally, the universe itself! In the end, you will still have the same problem, no challenge! That’s what you fear, change and competition! Evolution and life! And, with no competition, there’s no Heaven to aspire to, nor Hell to avoid! You will live forever, alone as everything, and your universe will be your prison! All experiences will be a part of you, all possibilities considered and completed! Every life-form, molecule, every should and never should, and it will all be done. Everything will be you and everything will be meaningless! My own universe is going through such a crisis right now. The two main powers of my country are afraid of the change that technology brought. They claim that what they do will be for my country’s own good, but, in the end, when we’re all red or blue, elephants or donkeys, Republicans or Democrats, and one side has done away with the other, there will be no challenge, no future to look forward to! Well, as a human, I’ve long accepted the one, single truth of the multiverse, only through chaos can change happen! Only through an ugly thing will beauty flourish! So, when you DO become your universe, when the definition of your universe’s existence equals Megatron, former Predacon Commander and rogue, you will scream your final ‘NO’ and let it vibrate along the totality of your being, when the lie of your ridiculous crusade of purity is laid bare, because there is simply nothing else for you to DO!!”

“Yoooouuu…are coooonnnnnfuuuuussssinnng…mmeee!” strained Megatron as he tried to speak through vocal components that were directing their energies to his brain. “Yooouuu arrree…aaaatttemmmppttiing…aaaa…deccceeeppption!”

“Me?” I hissed as I stopped circling to face him. “Deceive a descendant of the Decepticons? Lie to a guy that may prove as powerful as his namesake? I don’t have the capacity to do so!”

“You…you…IIIII musssst…cooontinnuuuuue!” slurred Megatron. “Aaallll lllliiifffeee…muuustt…bbbbeeee…!”

“Technological in origin with you as the guiding hand!” I interrupted. “Except that there is no point! In the end, you’ll still be there, alone in the darkness of mere being! FOREVER! What it all boils down to is that you’re no more significant that a single atom in your body!”

“SILENCE!!” roared Megatron.

“HEY!” burbled Heather in her Polymorph form. Polymorphs are a unicellular species that can take any shape at will, mainly a humanoid one with two eyes. In Earth’s gravity, they need a special Anti-Gravity projector to maintain their form. Without it, they’re an immobile blob of usually green goo. Zhànshì was holding the deactivated Anti-Gravity Projector belonging to Heather’s Polymorph form. Heather tried to move, but I grabbed the Omnitrix symbol and pulled it off her viscous form. It turned back from a single disc to the watch while the Anti-Gravity Projector vanished as Heather turned back. The instant she did, she leapt on me. “THAT’S MINE!” she shouted as she tried to pry it from my hands.

“Don’t be absurd!” I argued. “You don’t even like other people! That’s another failing of you ‘purists’! You only use others until their usefulness is fulfilled, even your fellow purists! Why do you, of all beings, want to have racial purity?!”

“Because having mutts like you outlive me is an affront to my existence!” roared Heather. “An affront to what God intended!”

“You and I clearly worship a different God,” I hissed. “My God would want diversity in his creations!” I managed to get her off me. “Someone check on Ben!”

“Still out cold!” reported Clash.

“Looks like I’ll have to use it until Ben wakes up!” I declared. I put it on my arm and the band locked itself around my wrist. It automatically adjusted to allow me to use it. Heather punched me in the mouth. I spat out a couple of tooth chips. “You’ll pay for that, literally!” I snarled. “Do you know how expensive dental work is?!” I turned to the Omnitrix and activated the selection ring. “Okay, I need something to give me the edge over her! I need Four Arms! Or Humungousaur! Or NRG!” I was distracted by a flying kick from Heather and selected the alien. I felt another set of arms sprout and another set of eyes open beneath my original ones. My clothes were swapped out for a leotard, Omnitrix must have its clothing function fixed. I then noticed that I felt something from my tail-bone. My jaws then started going outward and I realized I was taking a four-armed simian form, not a four-armed humanoid form. Something took control of my vocal cords as I shouted my new form’s name. “SPIDERMONKEY!” The alien I turned into was called an Arachnichimp, a blue-furred simian species that could spin webs from their tails. The fur on my cheeks looked more like spider mandibles. I sighed. “I asked for a Tetramand, you give me an Arachnichimp,” I moaned at the Omnitrix symbol located below my sternum. “Oh well, I can work with this.” I pointed my tail at Heather and shot a web at her, sticking her to a wall. I then ran up to her and started punching rapidly. I stopped for a second. “Okay, talk. What’s this universe’s Foundation Element and where is it?!”

“Ain’t you gonna read me my rights?!” snarked Heather. I punched her again.

“I’m not a police officer!” I snarled. “Talk!”

“I plead the fifth!” hissed Heather. I punched her again.

“Talk!” I demanded.

“I don’t know on either count!” answered Heather.

“Really?” I asked. “I don’t believe that.”

“It’s the truth!” begged Heather.

“She’s not lying!” called Guard as he and the rest of the team cancelled their transformations. “I’ve used my belt to detect any attempt to lie. She doesn’t know! Now, let her go. She doesn’t deserve death!” I considered for a while, then slapped the Omnitrix symbol, returning to the human body I’m familiar with.

“Then we need to find it before the enemy does!” I declared.

“Can’t the Omnitrix find it?” asked Haitao. “It IS a Foundation Element.”

“How can we know how to use it to find another?” quizzed Livia. I then got an idea.

“Maybe the Omnitrix itself can’t,” I explained, “but one of the aliens can!” I went through the selection ring and selected the alien I wanted. After pushing the core down, I felt my eyes sink in until my vision went black. I knew that this was the alien I wanted. My posture became ape-like in that my hands were supporting the bulk of my new body while my legs redesigned themselves for jumping. Claws came out of my fingers and a harness appeared in place of my usual outfit with the Omnitrix symbol on my belly. Three gills appeared on each side of my neck, allowing me to use heat visioning and echolocation as well as smell. I roared my name, my current form lacking vocal cords, as someone shouted what I tried to say.

“WILDMUTT!” I got an image of Richard with his hands in a bullhorn fashion. We all gave him a look. “Well, Vulpimancers can’t talk!” replied Richard. I shrugged, then sniffed the Omnitrix symbol, Ben’s wrist, and Heather’s wrist to confirm the scent. I had it! Livia stayed behind to get Ben and his team back into working order. I led the rest of us to a building that was too near the Dinobots and made it inside. I sniffed around and stopped by the statue of Dr. John Hammond, the guy who started Jurassic Park. I sniffed the statue and got a match on the cane! I started growling and pointed excitedly at the cane.

“That’s the Foundation Element?!” asked Irina.

“Right under the enemy’s nose the entire time!” cheered Mikhail.

“And we led them right to it,” gulped Michael. I slapped down on the Omnitrix symbol and returned to being Emily Saunders.

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Because Vilgax is right here!” replied Michael. Vilgax was at the doorway.

“How?!” I yelped. “I mean, Death and the others…”

“Were nothing!” boasted Vilgax. He flung them into the building, battered, but alive. War snarled.

“Your species is not known for warfare!” she snarled. “You bring shame to them!”

“And yet, I lead them,” chuckled Vilgax.

“Vilgax, back away and surrender!” I roared.

“What? And leave the Omnitrix in an ape’s grasp?” snarled Vilgax. “I think not. You ARE right, there is no victory in purity. Megatron and Heather are living proof of that. However, Heather is a bit like the Atasians.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“They once called themselves the Highbreed,” explained Vilgax. “Lately, after Ben Tennyson saved the galaxy from them, they’ve been trying to wean away from that and call themselves by their original names. The work goes slowly, as work like that does.”

“Wait, you said Heather was like the High…Atasians,” I recalled. “How so?”

“She cannot breed,” elaborated Vilgax. “She was born without…ovaries, I believe is the word for the organs I’m thinking of.”

“So, she’s not attacking because she’s the most powerful, she’s attacking because she’s the last of her family!” I realized.

“And you will not live to see her die,” snarled Vilgax as he picked up his sword. I scrolled through the selection ring, not looking, and pressed on the core. My body changed. It felt like my bones were vanishing while muscle was maintaining my form. My nose sunk in as my hair became extensions on my head. My pinkies shrunk into my hands while my toes became two on each foot. My vocal cords were seized again.

“CHIMERA SUI GENERIS!” I announced. I examined myself. “Vilgax’s species?” I muttered. “When did this get added to the Omnitrix?”

“You chose the wrong form!” boasted Vilgax. “My people are not warriors!”

“Your people may not,” I mused, “but it’s not the brain of your people in this thing!” I decked Vilgax right in the schnoz! As he massaged that area, I grabbed one of the tentacles that made up his beard.

“Release me, Vermin!” he roared. Too late. I did to him what the Hulk did to Loki and smashed him to the floor repeatedly. I checked him for life signs when I finished. He was alive, just not in a responsive state.

“Puny warlord,” I rumbled in my best Hulk impression. I then heard something. “Hm? What is that? Screaming?” Ursula landed on me! The Omnitrix timed out, making me shrink down into Emily Saunders again. “GET OFF ME!” I shouted as I shoved her off, taking considerable effort. Her octopus legs make her weigh a ton! “What’s the idea?!” I snapped as Ursula righted herself up.

“While I was getting local allies,” she began when two men flew through the air. They landed near me. “…Those two,” continued Ursula, “were engaged in a fight against someone named Kamen Rider Talon.”

“Not her!” I moaned.

“Emily!” called a voice. I turned to see Livia with Ben and his team fully awake.

“Oh good!” I cheered. “Omnitrix, return to Ben Tennyson.”

“Unable to comply,” replied the Omnitrix with a robotic version of my voice.

“What?!” I yelped. “Hey! Ben!”

“Hey yeah?” asked Ben as he looked around. “Someone call the hero of the universe?”

“Quit patting yourself on the back on that score and help me get your watch off my wrist!” I snapped.

“Okay, okay, I got this,” assured Ben with that stupid cocky grin of his. “Omnitrix, release host and return to Ben Tennyson.”

“User recognized, however, Omnitrix is unable to comply until threat is over,” answered the Omnitrix.

“What?!” snapped Ben. “That’s just stupid!”

“Technical difficulties?” asked a voice. Talon then flew in as the two men she was fighting stirred.

“See, Mr. Grady,” moaned one of the men, wearing heavy body armor and a large stick that sparked, “this is why a stun rod is less effective than the rifle you have!”

“Star-Lord?!” I asked. The second man turned.

“…Nnnnooo…Owen Grady,” replied the man.

“Sorry!” I yelped. “You just look like someone from a…well, this is awkward.”

“Not as awkward as you have made my mission,” hissed Talon as she cancelled her transformation. I noticed something on her left arm.

“New toy?” I quizzed, pointing to the device.

“Something from Galvan Mark II,” explained Igura.

“Swiped from Azmuth’s lab, no doubt,” muttered Max Tennyson. Ben and Gwen’s grandfather.

“Why, yes, I DID swipe it from the Galvan’s First Thinker,” confirmed Igura.

“Well, I don’t see a need to use it when you’re in your suit,” I hissed as I drew my i.d tag. “Speaking of, Henshin!” I inserted the i.d tag, but no circle with my suit’s silhouette came up. After a few seconds, my belt spat out the i.d tag. “What the?” I yelped. “Henshin!” I tried again, but the i.d tag came out quicker. “Henshin!” Same results. “COME! ON! HEN! SHIN!” Not a chance.

“I was right, technical difficulties,” smirked Igura.

“WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH YOU!?” I shouted. Then I resigned myself. “Okay, fine! Have it your way! You want me to use the Omnitrix? You got it!” I selected an alien and slapped on the core. I felt my pinkies shrink into my hands again, but my body mass got thicker as I grew. I felt my skin harden and my teeth get sharper. I felt a tail grow again as my feet became more trunk like. My transformation was complete. “HUMUNGOUSAUR!” I shouted. I looked myself over to see the cavewoman outfit I was wearing. “Okay, truth be told, this is apropos.”

“I can agree with that,” called a voice. I turned to see another female Vaxasaurian grinning. She had the Omnitrix symbol as well as some sort of torso armor surrounding it.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“It’s me, Igura,” said the Vaxasaurian. I blinked, then guessed why she called herself Igura. In all honesty, it was the accent. I never heard a Japanese accent from a Vaxasaurian.

“So, what, that thing you stole from Azmuth is a knock-off Omnitrix?” I asked.

“It’s not a knock-off,” assured Igura. “Want to see it in action?” She turned a grey rectangle below the Omnitrix symbol like a key and the symbol popped up on a cylinder. I realized what the rig was.

“No way!” I breathed. “It’s not possible! Albedo had the only one!”

“Come now, you didn’t think Azmuth wouldn’t complete his own?” asked Igura. “My new toy is synced with the Omnitrix; thus, I turn into an alien whenever you do. But, with this new gadget, not only do I turn into any shape you take, but I can put the DNA through millions of years of worse case scenarios to bring those creatures to their full combative potential.”

“In other words?” asked Kevin, a ruffian teen, hoping he heard wrong.

“She’s got an Ultimatrix,” translated Gwen, Ben’s red-headed cousin. Igura then slapped the Omnitrix symbol down. Four spikes appeared around it and she was bathed in a green light. As it traveled over her current form, the changes were apparent. She grew up to 20 feet. Her skin went green while an Ankylosaur shell appeared on her back. A helmet in the same style appeared on her head. Her chest was plated in dark blue armor and a mace appeared at the tip of her tail. Her knuckles sported silver barrels and her nails extended into claws. She became more buff.

“Oh, great,” muttered Ben. “It’s Humungousaur vs. Ultimate Humungousaur again!”

“What’s going on here?!” snarled a voice I loathed.

“Heather, scram!” I warned as I turned to see her and Megatron. Heather wasn’t listening. She thought shouting at Igura would be a better use of her time.

“You stupid, squinty-eyed dunce!” she roared. “Now, you’ve gone made me mad!” She grabbed Igura’s tail. “You give me that now or I’ll…!”

“Unhand me, you bug-eyed VERMIN!” Igura roared back as she swatted Heather aside. Megatron ducked as Igura sailed into a building, hard. I winced.

“I swear I heard bones break,” I muttered.

“You should be more worried about yours!” snarled Igura. She morphed her right hand into a four-barreled missile launcher.

“Not this time!” I called as I dodged. I weaved between the volley of missiles and kicked her arm upward, towards Starscream. They hit him in his jets. He transformed as he fell.

“MY FEET!” he shrieked. He was plummeting towards the Dinobots! Swoop gave a warning and the Dinobots ran while Starscream hit the pavement of Main Street, squishing several Combatmen. Grimlock caught Dinobot on his back.

“My thanks,” reciprocated Dinobot.

“You tough like us,” mused Grimlock. “Me Grimlock consider you part of team. Mind a name change though? Siege?”

“Siege,” muttered Dinobot, “I quite like the sound of that! Siege, it is!” While that was going on, I managed to score a punch to Igura’s face. While she was disoriented, I knocked her down and started rapidly punching.

“Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!” I begged the multiverse. All of a sudden, I heard beeping. I looked down to see my Omnitrix symbol flashing red. I resumed the attack for a while until the beeping slowed and the Omnitrix timed out. Igura and I went back to our human forms. I got off of her to see her condition. She wasn’t moving, but she was alive. I then removed the Ultimatrix rig from her arm. “Omnitrix, is the threat over?” I quizzed

“Perceived threat is over,” reported the Omnitrix. It disconnected from me. I sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness,” I sighed. “Ben, I believe these are yours.” I handed over the Omnitrix and Ultimatrix rig to Ben.

“Sweet! I got the Ultimates back!” cheered Ben. He reached for them, but a clawed hand snatched them up. “HEY!” protested Ben. He turned the thief, smirking and chuckling. It was Megatron!

“I must thank you, Emily Saunders, yeeesss!” he called.

“For what?” I asked.

“For clearing out my optics!” explained Megatron. “You are quite right; it was individuality that sparked the Decepticon movement! It was individuality that made me break away from the Tripredacus Council! And it was individuality that allowed me to decode my namesake’s message in the Golden Disc. I was a fool to forget that! You are correct, there IS an advantage in individuality and chaos. However, I submit a question to you.”

“Ask away,” I said, cautiously.

“Can change not be a detriment as well as a valuable ally?” asked Megatron.

“What are you planning?!” hissed Vilgax’s voice. “We had a deal! You don’t need Tennyson’s Omnitrix!”

“True, I don’t,” conceded Megatron. “But, your Bioids do.” An army of humanoid robots with a featureless sphere for a head came up.

“Where did you get them?!” demanded Vilgax.

“I took the liberty of interrogating Psyphon for the blueprints,” elaborated Megatron. “Now, with the evolutionary function established, the Bioids are more powerful than ever before! Want to see?” Megatron selected an alien and the Bioids changed into the same creature. They were bipedal robots, about 17 feet tall, heavily-built, and wore parts of an armored van. The front of the van was their chest while the sides served as arms and the rear served as wheeled feet. The Omnitrix symbol was on their chest, above a human’s sternum.

“GEAR-SHIFT!” shouted the army.

“Come on! No fair using a new form before me!” wailed Ben.

“You scanned a Transformer already?!” I yelped.

“And gave it its current alt-mode,” confirmed Ben. “I scanned old Screamer over there.”

“MY NAME IS STARSCREAM!” shouted Starscream.

“And Ben was not able to use it before Heather took the Omnitrix from him,” continued Rook, a cat-like humanoid.

“Now that I have it,” jeered Megatron, “I can have a drone army as well as a Predacon one!” I blinked. “Come now, the Maximals weren’t the only sparks I robbed! There are techno-organic Predacons running on Cybertron now! And I will command them!” He then turned the key on the Ultimatrix rig and made a new selection ring. He selected the alien and the army changed into techno-organic tigers, in robot mode.

“ULTIMATE GEAR-SHIFT!” announced the army. The Ultimatrix rig and Omnitrix symbol were located on their torsos.

“SLAY THEM ALL!” roared Megatron as he went into beast mode. The rig adapted to his T-Rex arm and the army charged. My belt was working this time, so all of us riders donned our suits. We clashed with the Ultimate Gear-Shift army and nearly tore the park apart. Ben then got an idea. As he dodged the fire coming from all directions, he latched onto Megatron’s beast arm. Megatron tried to get him off. “Release me!” he roared.

“Omnitrix, command function override! Code 10!” ordered Ben.

“Override accepted,” replied the Omnitrix in Ben’s voice. “Voice command activated.”

“What are you doing?!” yelped Megatron.

“Omnitrix, self-destruct in 30 seconds!” commanded Ben “Command Code 0-0-0-Destruct-0!”

“Destruct sequence completed and engaged,” confirmed the Omnitrix. “Detonation in T-Minus…”

“Omnitrix, command function override! Code 10!” boomed Megatron.

“Override accepted,” reported the Omnitrix in Megatron’s voice.

“Omnitrix, abort self-destruct! Code 10!” demanded Megatron.

“Self-destruct sequence aborted,” called the Omnitrix.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t study the Omnitrix’s voice commands?!” snarled Megatron as he went into robot mode. He got Ben off and punched him in the gut. “You are an idiot! I am Megatron, lord of Cybertron! With the Predacons and Bioids at my disposal, I shall succeed where my namesake failed! You are but the footnote in history! And, when they build statues of me triumphing over the Maximals, you will be displayed with all of your…!”

“Current host too volatile,” reported the Omnitrix in Ben’s voice. “Returning to Benjamin Kirby Tennyson.”

“WHAT?!” roared Megatron. The Omnitrix and Ultimatrix rig came off of Megatron and flew to Ben. The whole rig went onto Ben’s arm and the Omnitrix adjusted the wristband to fit Ben.

“Back in business!” cheered Ben as he scrolled through the selection ring and selected an alien. A flash of green later, and Ben was in his Appoplexian form, wearing pants. He shouted the name. “rrrRRAAAAAATTHH!” Male Appoplexians are bulkier in the upper regions than the females.

“Angry enough?” asked Rook, the cat-like humanoid that works as Ben’s Plumber partner.

“Well, he DID have the Omnitrix off for a while and someone was about to abuse it,” I mused. “I’d say Ben’s right in using Rath.”

“You shall pay for this embarrassment!” snarled Megatron.

“LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’ MEGATRON, FORMER LORD OF CYBERTRON!” roared Rath. “YOU WANNA MAKE RATH PAY? YOU’LL FIND THAT RATH IS TOO EXPENSIVE TO CASH VICTORY IN ON!!” Megatron laughed.

“Mixing metaphors, are we?” he asked. Rath tackled Megatron and the two clashed. The Bioids were back to their blank state but were still fighting.

“This is absurd!” I hissed. “Lacey, do it!” Apocalypse nodded and floated into the air. “Get to higher ground!” I called.

“COME ON!” protested Rath. “I WAS JUST GETTING WARMED UP!”

“Ben! Now!” snapped Max. Rath grudgingly complied. As we got higher, the clouds got darker. Lightning flashed as Gwen cast a shield over us.

“Here we go!” I yelled. The rain then started hammering the whole island. It was hitting the ground to hard that a flash flood hit the park. The enemy was washed out to the entrance. A rift opened near Igura, Vilgax, Starscream, and Megatron.

“YOU IDIOTS HAVE FAILED ME!” roared Lord Vortech as his hand scooped them up. At that point, Apocalypse called off the storm. She floated down into the water and cancelled her transformation. The water was up to her topmost skirt. The sun peeked through the clouds as we got down. All Riders cancelled our transformations and Rath went back to Ben.

“That was more excitement than any of us bargained for,” sighed Richard as he held Dr. Hammond’s cane.

“I didn’t see Heather in Vortech’s hand,” observed Flora. “Do you think…?” she turned to Death.

“No,” whispered Death. “Her time hasn’t come. Speaking of, I have work to do.” She summoned her scythe and headed to the enemy forces, swinging her weapon and releasing the souls of the dead. “And now, for good news,” whispered Death once she finished. “Lacey, we have something for you, dear.” She handed Lacey a card. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you as head of the Technology Department and as head of House Apocalypse. You may choose your house’s colors at your leisure.”

“You mean, I passed?!” cheered Lacey. All horsemen nodded. “YAY!” she called. “Kamen Rider Apocalypse is here!”

“Now, all we need is Kamen Rider Vortex,” grunted War.

“Give it a week,” whispered Death. “In the meantime, we need food to celebrate.”

“Good luck with that,” muttered Haitao. “There’s probably nothing to eat but Energon.”

“Not good idea for humans,” rumbled Grimlock.

“Great,” I sighed. “We’ll starve before we get back.”

“You sure?” asked Richard as he held up an apple. He then pointed to a whole trail of apples leading to a building. We followed the apples, collecting them as we went, and saw the biggest storeroom for food ever!

“We could feast for weeks!” I breathed.

“Think we should share with Heather?” asked Richard. I considered. For a moment, I felt pity for her since she was the last of her bloodline. I then shook my head.

“I’m sure her fridge is stocked up,” I replied. “In the meantime, we feast!”


	43. Chapter 43

“That was a week ago, Your Highness,” said Emily as she finished. I was reeling from the shock.

“That’s…wow…that’s a lot to take in,” I breathed. I then shook my head and turned to Lacey. “Kamen Rider Apocalypse?” I mused. “Congrats! Now we can beat Vortech together!”

“Can’t wait!” cheered Lacey.

“Question,” interjected Mrs. Acqua. “Why are you still in your school uniform?”

“The staff sometimes wears the student uniform to bring them to their level,” replied Lacey. “I think this is gonna be standard dress for me. I don’t know. Haven’t decided yet.”

“Have you picked a color yet?” I asked.

“I was thinking of using purple,” answered Lacey. “A nice, calming color.”

“Can’t wait to see you in action,” I giggled. I turned to Emily. “So, feasting for a week?”

“Special orders from the Dinobots,” explained Emily, “after taking over management of this establishment.”

“Speaking of, where’s the newly christened Siege?” I asked.

“Over here,” snarled the velociraptor. “Siege, Maximize!” Siege transformed. “Welcome to Jurassic World,” he greeted. “Forgive the lack of staff right now, but there is a human to deal with.”

“Lead me to her,” hissed Mrs. Saunders. “She’s under arrest!”

“HELP!” cried a voice.

“That was her!” called Emily.

“Quick!” I directed. We all ran like Hades down Main Street to see a woman, Heather, by Emily’s description, locked in combat with a robot. The robot seemed to gain the upper hand as it wrapped its pincers around Heather’s throat. Heather tried to get out of the robot’s grip, but to no avail. She was thrown down and I heard snapping. Emily rushed to her and checked her over. She dropped her shoulders and turned to us.

“She’s dead,” she pronounced. I turned to look at the robot. It stayed there, so I examined every detail. It had a single grey antenna, a square head and rectangular body, arms with pincers, and a single yellow eye. It floated like X-PO did and summoned a rift to escape.

“STOP!” I demanded, but it was too late.

“Damnation!” roared Mrs. Saunders. “She had valuable intel on Vortech’s plans!”

“First Hiro, now this!” I hissed.

“What about Hiro?” asked Richard.

“Oh, yeah,” I explained. “After I became Kamen Rider Vortex for the first time, Hiro blew himself up.”

“He’s dead?!” yelped Haitao.

“I’ll explain on the way back,” I promised. “X-PO, we need a rift back!” A rift opened up. “Shall we?” I called. We all entered the rift.

* * *

I had managed to secure permission to begin a little expedition from Vortech after my embarrassment in _Jurassic World_. Ambassador Hell accompanied me. We headed to a universe in Cluster N. The landscape was a barren, dark one with nothing but grey sand. The gravity was 1/6th of what we’re used to. Ambassador Hell looked around and stopped when he saw what was in the sky. “Nice, lush planet, is it not?” I remarked.

“We’re on a planet’s moon?!” he asked. “How are we breathing?!”

“In most versions in this dimensional cluster,” I replied, “the moon has an atmosphere. This specific universe is 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0.”

“Is…that a…church?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“A sham wedding was stopped in that church,” I answered.

“Is that a taxi?!” yelped Ambassador Hell.

“And tourists are around,” I mused.

“But…the moon is a barren wasteland, isn’t it?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“Indeed,” I replied, “but, it isn’t this universe that’s our destination.”

“Then, why are we…?” Ambassador Hell’s question was answered as we stopped at a crater. “A gateway?”

“Our very own,” I confirmed. “Salvaged from the wreckage of GLaDOS’ bungling. Come! We’re going to the outskirts of Hell itself!” I activated the Gateway and we entered to arrive at another wasteland with a blood-red sky and air filled with the screams of the damned. Ambassador Hell looked down the crater to see many of the people were once under his command.

“I had underestimated how many of our allies are here,” he hissed. “Curse all Kamen Riders to this very pit!”

“Come,” I called. “Our destination is in sight.” We approached a large building with gargoyles.

“A tomb? Here?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“One said to contain guardians,” I answered. “Come now, Ambassador, you’re not averse to desecration, are you?”

“It’s just that being here evokes powerful memories,” replied Ambassador Hell, “considering the fate of my brother.”

“Ambassador Darkness of the Badan Empire, correct?” I mused. “Then, you shall delight in our purpose here. For our actions here shall ensure that we avenge our fallen comrades.” We entered the tomb and located a coffin

“Don’t touch that!” snapped a voice.

“Says…who are you?!” I asked. The creature was humanoid, was grey-white, had a large tail, black lips, and purple areas on the scalp, shoulders, sternum, and lower legs, which had three toes. He had a halo above his head.

“I am Frieza,” introduced the creature. “At the moment, I’m supposed to guard this tomb. Anything to get away from that absurd tree! Much as I prefer to allow desecration, I’m on assignment to prevent it. So, if you value your lives, back off!”

“Hold that abomination off!” I ordered.

“Hold him off?!” protested Ambassador Hell as he turned into Garagaranda. “I’m the leader of an organization! I don’t hold things off! I squash them!” As he held Frieza off, I opened a coffin and took out my blades. I used a small one to get the eye and used a larger one to get the left hand.

“I have what I need!” I called. “Vortech, Garagaranda and I need a rift home!” Garagaranda shoved Frieza away and we entered the rift.

* * *

We had returned to Vorton to cheers. Everyone was back, well, aside from Death. We told everyone the events of what went on in _Jurassic world_ and told them about the robot that killed Heather. I then told everyone what happened in Chima. After the story, I called for silence. “Everyone,” I began, “I’m just reminding those that heard, but the Jurassic team needs to know. There’s been an idea floating around that I should be crowned Queen of the F.N.S.”

“No kidding?!” asked Emily as she wiggled happily in Joshua’s lap.

“No kidding,” I confirmed. “So, I need everyone’s opinion. To save time, I need everyone to speak with their families and we’ll tally family votes. Okaa-san, Hiroki Nee-san, you two will have to debate alone. I’m not voting.”

“We understand,” assured Okaa-san.

“All right, get debating. Let me remind you that a single no vote will defeat the motion,” I declared. “I’ll call you in five minutes.” The F.N.S, our families, Hongo, Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf departed. Ben and his team, Ursula, and the Dinobots were staring at the Star Destroyer hovering above Vorton.

“I swear I saw that before,” mused Ursula as she turned into Vanessa.

“A pleasure to see you,” boomed Vader’s voice.

“YOU AGAIN!!” shouted Vanessa.

“You know him?” I asked.

“We were on the same side for a while during an event called the Balance Wars,” snarled Vanessa. “If memory serves, you and your Emperor nearly killed us all when you fought each other! Loki wasted too much power to get us out of the Death Star Mark III!”

“Perhaps it would be in your best interest to not underestimate the power I wield,” rumbled Vader. “Your magic is nothing compared to the Force.”

“You prattle on and on about that Force nonsense,” hissed Vanessa, “but, in the end, anyone can wield it! It’s nothing special, just a…!” She didn’t get very far as Vader held out his hand and Vanessa started gasping for air.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” growled Vader.

“LET HER GO OR OUR ALLIANCE IS OVER!” I thundered.

“As is your will,” complied Vader. He released Vanessa. She coughed and spluttered.

“Vader, it would be in your best interests NOT to choke people that annoy you,” I warned. “You want my help, reign it in! Whatever beef you have with her is irrelevant. Unless Vanessa wishes to stay, I’m sending her home after the vote.”

“I’m not staying a second longer!” snapped Vanessa.

“Truth be told,” rumbled Grimlock, “Dinobots need to go home.”

“I must return as well,” replied Siege.

“I don’t know about you guys,” cheered Ben, “but I’m staying!”

“Not without me, you are not!” protested Rook.

“I’m staying too,” called Gwen.

“I see no reason to not kick butt and take names,” mused Kevin.

“I’m in, too,” declared Max.

“Very well,” I said. I then heard footsteps. “Five minutes, already?” I muttered. “All right, we’ll start with the Saunders.”

“The Saunders say yes!” called Emily.

“Archers?” I asked.

“The Archers say yes,” replied Michael.

“Kuznetsovs?” I quizzed.

“The vote is yes,” answered Irina.

“Akintolas?” I queried.

“We say yes!” cheered Mr. Akintola.

“Ackermanns?” I gulped.

“The vote is yes,” reported Mrs. Ackermann.

“Babineauxs?” I mumbled.

“Oui, you should be Queen!” called Emmanuel.

“Haugens?” I asked, hoping for a “no” vote.

“You will make a fine Queen. The vote is yes,” replied Tonje.

“Elizondos?” I said weakly.

“Of course, we say yes!” cheered Mr. Elizondo.

“Acquas?” I quizzed.

“Sì!” called Livia.

“Williams?” I mumbled.

“God save Queen Megumi!” praised Mr. Williams.

“Kumars?” I mumbled.

“Yes, of course!” replied Sheela.

“Lins?” I quizzed.

“We say yes,” said Mrs. Lin.

“Okay, my family has the final say,” I said, really hoping for a “no” from them.

“And we say yes!” cheered Okaa-san. “You shall make a fine Queen!”

“It’s…decided…then,” I whispered, feeling the weight of the crown, even though I was still wearing my tiara.

“I’ll make you a new dress!” cheered Okaa-san.

“Okay,” I mumbled, nervously.

“No worries, Megumi,” assured Richard. “You’ve led us this far and haven’t let us down. I feel confident in following you.”

“Thank you,” I sighed. “I just worry about that kind of power going to my head.”

“Just remember your friends,” reminded Okaa-san. I smiled.

“Friends do keep one grounded, don’t they?” I mused. I was feeling a little more confident about being Queen. “When my new dress is finished, we will hold a coronation.” I decreed.

“God save the Queen!” cheered Michael.

“God save the Queen!” called everyone.

* * *

When we returned, Vortech met us with a female version of his right arm. “And, what do you intend to do?” he asked.

“The hand and eye I had obtained from Hell are merely tools to allow me into After Academy,” I explained. “The arm I requested should serve as a buffer for the power that resides in the school. Power that I intend to use!” We stopped at the Medical Ward with the Rani by the surgery table. “So, you CAN do it?” I asked her.

“I mean, yes, I CAN do it,” she replied, “if you’re certain that’s what you want?”

“Like nothing I’ve ever desired!” I declared, making it clear that there is no going back.

“Then, prepare for…” said the Rani.

“No anesthetic!” I demanded as I laid down. “I want to bear witness as you upgrade my limbs and eye!”

“Coming up,” complied the Rani. She got to work on my right arm first. The pain was excruciating, but I managed.


	44. Chapter 44

I will freely admit, I was feeling nervous. Okaa-san had completed my dress in about a week. She used white with gold for the outermost skirt. My shoulders and upper arms were exposed while my forearms had sleeves from the elbow to my fingers. The interior of the sleeves and the fluffy material at my elbows were gold. My bodice was white with gold trim on top. The exposed petticoats were white like the train of my dress. This was the first time I wore a dress with a train. I was at my makeup mirror, putting on lipstick. When I finished, I noticed how worried I look, especially without my tiara on. That thing was like a security blanket. I started breathing deeply and unclenched my fingers. “You’ve been through worse, girl,” I whispered to myself. “Besides, your friends believe in you.” I heard a knock. “Come in,” I called. Hiroki poked his head through the door.

“We’re ready,” he reported.

“On my way,” I said. Hiroki left the door open. No turning back. Time to be a Queen. I walked slowly, noticing the details of the hallway from my room to the Gateway room. It took a minute to get there. When I did, I saw the aisle I was going to walk down. Death and her team, our families, the F.N.S, X-PO, Turretorg, Discornia, Team 10, the Stormtroopers and Vader, Rusty, the Brigadier, Elphaba, Chell, and Hongo were on either side. Ursula and our Transformer allies had already gone home. Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf were on the Gateway platform. Gandalf was in the center, Batman was on his right, Wyldstyle was on his left. I walked down the aisle and got on the Gateway pad in front of Gandalf. When I stopped, I knelt down. Batman handed Gandalf a simple gold crown with three points on the front and an oval shaped sapphire at the base of each point. Gandalf accepted the crown and first raised it for all to see, then lowered it onto my head.

“Now come the days of the Queen,” called Gandalf. “May they be blessed.” I gave a small smile, then rose and turned to face my friends. I was met with applause and a teary-eyed Okaa-san. As I looked, I realized that they wanted me to assume more power, so I can better help them, and they can better help me. The butterflies in my stomach went down as I motioned for quiet.

“Thank you,” I began. “All of you. In all my years, I never had such valuable friends and family. Without you, I would be a totally different person. I am truly grateful to have you as my friends and family, even those that were once thought of as fiction. So, I say again, thank you, and may our days be blessed.” I was met with applause. “Now then,” I decreed after it had died down, “to the cafeteria? Ready to feast?” I was met with cheers. “Let’s go!” I called. We sojourned to the cafeteria. As we ate and drank, I noticed War get something on her phone. “Everything alright?” I asked in a low voice, not wanting to disturb the party.

“Not really,” grunted War in the same low tone. She called Death over. My brother joined us. “I just got a message saying Jō had entered the campus.”

“Jō?” I asked.

“Shigeru Jō,” whispered Death, “a guest lecturer when we have a history lesson.”

“The name sounds familiar,” muttered Hiroki.

“Hiroki, you, of all people, should know him!” whispered Death. “He’s the 7th Showa Era Rider, the 7th Rider of all Riders, Kamen Rider Stronger!”

“Stronger?! Seriously?!” yelped Hiroki.

“Yes, and it said he just entered After Academy,” grunted War.

“So, another lecture?” I asked.

“Except, he’s been in the campus for a week now,” whispered Death.

“That’s…disturbing,” I muttered.

“Pardon me,” whispered Death. “I must investigate this.”

“See you later, then,” I bid. Death bowed and left.

“If this worries Death, should it worry us?” asked Hiroki.

“I should hope not,” grunted War.

* * *

I had arrived back at After Academy. Something was going up my spine and it wasn’t good. I entered the selectively permeable wall and found Jō. He was with his girlfriend, Misaki Yuriko. They both had the halo mark on their brow to show that they were dead. Yuriko noticed that Jō’s eye and hand were ashen gray. Jō was confused about it. He brought it to my attention and fear gripped my heart. I ordered a Lockdown. Nothing was going in or out. “What’s gotten into you?!” asked Jō.

“The only way any dead person’s body parts would go ashen,” I explained, “would be because those parts were stolen from your grave!” Jō and Yuriko then realized the implications. I got my belt on. “Henshin!” I announced.

“Death!” called my belt. My suit formed. Yuriko jumped into the air and landed in a red, black, and yellow suit with a ladybug motif. This was her hero form, Denpa Ningen Tackle (Electro-wave Human, Tackle). Jō took his jacket off to reveal a yellow shirt with a large, black S on the front. He then stuck his right arm to the side and his left arm pointed towards the right. He then rotated his arms so they were sticking out to the left.

“Henshin!” he announced. He then pulled an imaginary rip cord on his left arm with his right. “STRONGER!” His suit appeared in a crackle of electricity. The belt looked like an eight-pointed star. His suit was black with red shoulder pads connecting at the rib cage and sporting a large, black S. He was sporting a white scarf. The whole motif was based off the Rhinoceros beetle. This was Kamen Rider Stronger.

“Is there any artefact that the intruder would want?” asked Tackle.

“There is one,” I whispered. “We’d best check it out.” I led the two heroes to the room where the Foundation Saber was kept. Shocker Nova Combatmen were accompanying Igura. One of them alerted her to our presence. Igura turned to see us. Her left hand looked like it belonged on a man and her eyes were a different color. One was black, the other was brown. What scared me was that her right arm was like a Vortonian’s. I didn’t need to guess the donor.

“Well now, Kamen Rider Stronger!” she chuckled. “Thank you for donating your hand and eye to me. Rest assured; you will not be forgotten when the new multiversal order is here.”

“Back away from that room!” I whispered. “I’m warning you!”

“You’re warning me?” hissed Igura. “No, I’M warning YOU! Don’t interfere. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

“You have no idea what that blade will do to your psyche!” I whispered. “You’re about to unleash forces you cannot control, nor comprehend! The Foundation Saber’s power will tear you asunder!”

“I AM power!” growled Igura. She turned to her men. “Keep them occupied.” The Combatmen swarmed us, slowing us down sufficiently to allow Igura access. She entered the wall and I went through enough to clear a path. I went through the wall, too late. She had already disabled the security measures and grabbed the sword. She then put it in a metal harness shaped like a blade. After that, the sword started unleashing power, as did Igura. The energies synced with each other, signifying that Igura had mastered the Foundation Saber. “At last, the power of the multiverse belongs to ME!”

“No…” I breathed, my transformation cancelling automatically. I fell to my knees. Igura then put the tip of the blade at my throat.

“I would cleave you in two for taking my Hiro’s soul!” she snarled. She then guided my head upwards with the sword. “But, you didn’t, did you?” I was confused. “I looked through your Ledger of the Dead,” explained Igura. “You keep track of all the souls you’ve claimed. Hiro’s soul is marked with a blue circle instead of a green check mark. You couldn’t find his soul in Chima, could you?”

“…No, I couldn’t,” I admitted. “However, Hiro is dead and will remain so!”

“Time will tell,” laughed Igura. She then grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the room. She released me and ordered her men to retreat. Stronger and Tackle looked and saw Igura make a circle with the Foundation Saber, creating a rift. “Farewell,” she bid. She and her Combatmen departed. Stronger and Tackle checked me over.

“This war has just tipped in the enemy’s favor,” I muttered.

* * *

“A harness for the blade?” asked Vortech when I returned. “Surely my genetic donation would be sufficient.”

“Vortech, you warned me about the power this thing has,” I replied. “I am not a fool. For all I knew, the sword’s power would still make me lose my mind, even with my new Vortonian arm. Better to play it safe.”

“Fair point,” conceded Vortech. “Now, we should be prepared for Universe G-H-0-5-T-8-U-5-T-3-R-5-1-9-8-4. Zod will be in charge and Sludgiona will take your place.”

“Pardon?” I asked.

“You have bigger priorities, locating Hiro’s soul, for a start,” replied Vortech. “Why settle for just one edge when we have a chance for two?”

“So, you want me to find Hiro and bring him back to us?” I quizzed.

“Correct,” confirmed Vortech. “Do not come back empty-handed again.”

“Understood,” I obliged.


	45. Chapter 45

After the coronation and Death’s recent news about Igura taking a weapon that could wipe us out, I decided it was time to grab another Foundation Element. Everyone gathered in the Gateway room. Batman, Hongo, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, and I took our places while the rest of the Vortex Riders gathered in a circle. The Rider Chance music played, scaring a few of our newcomers. Ben looked disturbed. “I am not sure this is a pleasant thing,” gulped Rook.

“We’re not entirely comfortable with this, either,” replied Lukas.

“And today’s riders are…” announced X-PO as the hands rotated. They stopped on “Xiomara!”

“Yes!” she cheered.

“And Emmanuel!” called X-PO.

“Très bon!” replied Emmanuel. They took their places on the Gateway Platform.

“Good luck!” wished Mr. Babineaux.

“Come back safe, Your Majesty!” called Michael. Everybody made their farewells.

“Everyone,” I said to my team once the farewells were completed, “CHARGE!” We went through the rift and arrived in 80’s era New York. There was chaos going on and strange lights in the sky. See-through people was terrorizing the citizens, in various states of decay.

“HEY!” protested Gandalf as he was slimed and robbed of his hat. “Accursed Pilfering Phantasm!” He zapped the creature, making it drop his hat.

“Ghosts?” asked Batman.

“G-g-ghosts?” stammered Wyldstyle.

“Surely, you’re not scared of a few specters?” chuckled Xiomara.

“I ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” replied Batman.

“The dead don’t rise from their graves without good reason,” mused Hongo. “We should find out what it is.”

“Agreed,” I affirmed.

“They look like they’re coming from over there,” observed Batman. I saw the building Batman was pointing to.

“Xiomara, Emmanuel, does that look familiar?” I asked. I pointed to a light up sign with a ghost trapped in the “NO” symbol. Their faces lit up.

“Ghostbusters HQ!” called Emmanuel.

“Come on!” cried Xiomara. We then heard something in the sky.

“Is that…screaming?” I muttered.

“Up there!” answered Emmanuel as he pointed upwards. “It looks like…A MAN AND AN ICE CREAM TRUCK FALLING OUT OF THE SKY!!”

“LOOK OUT!” warned the man. We got out of the way as the man landed on his back and the Ice Cream truck falling away from him. “My back!” he groaned. We went to help him up. Hongo’s eyes went wide when he saw the man’s face.

“Takeru?!” he yelped.

“You know him?” asked Batman.

“Tenkūji Takeru,” introduced Hongo, “Kamen Rider Ghost. He helped me fight Shocker and Shocker Nova.” Takeru then got over his pain and saw Hongo.

“Hongo-san!” cheered Takeru.

“Good to see you, Takeru!” replied Hongo. “What brings you here?”

“A fight with Igura,” answered Takeru.

“You met her again?!” yelped Hongo.

“This was back home,” elaborated Takeru. “I was enjoying a nice 20th birthday with my friends, and a celebration of coming back to life, when she attacked the temple. She started demanding a Hero Eyecon, but I wasn’t about to surrender them. I fought her off, then she made a blue vortex and threw me in there which got me here. Ever since then, I’ve been fighting these ghosts.”

“I don’t think that’s what she was talking about,” replied Hongo. “She may have been talking about an Eyecon with her lover’s soul, Hiro Adachi.”

“Never heard of him,” remarked Takeru.

“Former Shocker scientist, my biological father,” I explained. “I’m Megumi Hishikawa, Queen of the Feudal Nerd Society. This is Lady Xiomara.”

“Hola!” cheered Xiomara.

“Emmanuel,” I continued.

“Bonjour,” greeted Emmanuel.

“Batman,” I went on.

“And not the Shocker monster,” answered Batman.

“Wyldstyle,” I continued.

“Not a DJ,” clarified Wyldstyle.

“And Gandalf,” I finished.

“Pleasure to meet you,” greeted Gandalf.

“We’re heading to the source of all these ghosts,” I explained. “Want to tag along?”

“Sure!” replied Takeru.

“Let’s go!” I called. We walked a few blocks to see a green blob possess another Ice Cream truck and make it go across purple goo and fly away.

“Okay, there’s no way that goo is safe,” remarked Wyldstyle.

“Agreed,” I muttered. “We need to find a way over.” I then got an idea. “Takeru-san, do you still have ghostly powers?”

“Yes, my belt keeps them. Why?” asked Takeru.

“Because we can fly everybody over the goo,” I replied. I then drew out my i.d tag. “Henshin!” I announced. Takeru was surprised when he saw me suit up.

“A Kamen Rider?!” he yelped.

“Kamen Rider Royal,” I answered. “And I have more surprises. Time to test the new Ben 10 i.d tag.” I drew out said i.d tag and swapped mine with that one. Because of the aliens Ben turns into, the icons circled. “You know, I think we should blend in with the ghostly crowd,” I mused.

“Just pay attention to it,” advised Batman.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured. “Look.” I selected an icon. “Boom, armor based off of Ben’s Ectonurite form.”

“Ben 10 Jetray Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“What?!” I yelped. The wardrobe closed on me and altered my armor. I gained yellow horns, a red color scheme, and had flight suit wings under my arms. The wardrobe vanished as I felt something seize my vocal cords. “JETRAY!” I called. I then sighed and glared at my belt. “I asked for Ghostfreak, not Jetray!” I complained “Are you seriously gonna act like the Omnitrix?!”

“Hey, you’re the one who turned her head when Batman talked!” snapped Vortoranii. “That’s your fault. Besides, you can fly now, so quit complaining!” I sighed again.

“Emmanuel, get on my back,” I directed. “Xiomara, Gandalf, I’ll have to pick you up by my feet. Hongo, Wyldstyle, Batman, you’re with Takeru.” Emmanuel got on my back and I took off into the air. When I landed on the other side, I heard something say “EYE!” I turned to see a black parka with orange trim and orange eyes dancing around Takeru. He was wearing a belt that looked like an eye covered in slime. It had an orange grip that he could pull and push. The belt was saying “Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!” (Watch out!) He then made various hand signs before putting his right pointer and middle finger in front of his face.

“Henshin!” he announced. He pulled the handle, the pushed it back in. The eye closed, then opened again.

“KAIGAN! ORE!” (Eyes open! It’s me!) called the belt. A suit similar to those of _Tron: Legacy_ formed as the parka landed on him and made an orange faceplate with black eyes and a single horn. “Let’s go! Kakugo! (Dead Set!) Go, Go, Go GHOST! Go! Go! Go! Go!” continued the belt. Takeru pulled the hood back and allowed Hongo onto his back. He then grabbed Wyldstyle and Batman’s wrists and took off, landing on my side of the goo.

“That’s your persona as Kamen Rider Ghost?” I muttered. “Looks like a _Tron_ suit.”

“ _Tron_?” asked Ghost.

“I’ll explain later,” I replied. We went up a street to see four men in a tricked-out hearse. It had all sorts of gadgetry on the roof and was white with red trim. The men had some sort of technological backpacks with rifles connected by a tube to the backpack. The rifles were spitting out orange streams of light with blue streams of light circling the orange ones. The streams were ensnaring the ghosts. When they did so, they threw out metal boxes and opened them with a foot pedal.

“This concentration of spectral activity is too large for us to handle!” called one of the men, wearing glasses. “We need to return to base and recharge the packs!”

“Egon, I thought you said we’d be dead before the packs run out of juice!” remarked another man, going a little bald.

“Egon’s right!” supplied a portly man. “The PKE is actually messing up the packs’ half-life! We need to head to base so we can deal with the source of these ghosts!”

“Base IS the source of these ghosts!” reminded the final man, a black man with a moustache. “Remember?! Peck shut the containment unit down again!”

“Again?” sighed Emmanuel as we stayed out of sight. The recent ghost the men had snared started dragging them and their hearse along. They followed, screaming.

“…Well, that was weird,” I muttered

“Standard fare for those men,” replied Xiomara.

“Who were they?” I asked.

“The balding one is Peter Venkman, the de facto leader,” explained Emmanuel. “The black man is Winston Zeddemore, the mechanic. The man with the glasses is Egon Spengler, the brains of the group. The portly man is Ray Stanz, the handy man. Together, those men make up the Ghostbusters.”

“And this ‘Peck’ they mentioned?” I ventured

“Walter Peck, an EPA representative that harbors a distaste for the Ghostbusters,” replied Xiomara.

“And what did he shut down?” I asked.

“The containment unit for the ghosts the Ghostbusters catch,” explained Xiomara. We then heard a fire escape ladder come down, thanks to Gandalf.

“I believe a higher vantage point will help us,” remarked Gandalf.

“Good idea,” I said. We headed to the fire escape when some ghosts started causing trouble. They messed with the traffic lights and caused a 20-car pile-up at the intersection.

“Oh, these wicked spirits are fiendish!” hissed Gandalf.

“Get them out of there!” I shouted. We got the people out of the cars and checked them over. Surprisingly, they weren’t hurt.

“Now, how are we gonna get past that?!” asked Ghost as he cancelled his transformation.

“With the Chroma Keystone!” replied Wyldstyle. “Batman, the red disc is above us on the fire escape!”

“Got it!” said Batman. He fired his grapple gun at the ladder above us and yanked hard. It didn’t move. He yanked again, but nothing happened. “Er, Megumi, a little help?” he asked.

“Did he just…?” realized Wyldstyle.

“No!” said Batman, hurriedly.

“Stop the presses, I can see it now!” teased Emmanuel. “A headline in the Gotham Newspaper, ‘Batman Asks for Help!’”

“Quit teasing him!” I giggled as I swapped out the Ben 10 i.d tag for Batman’s.

“Batman Steel!” announced Vortoranii. My suit changed, and I fired a grapple gun. Together, we yanked the ladder down. When we made it to the top, we pushed the disc down. Wyldstyle leapt onto the roof of a nearby diner and got the yellow disc down to the street. All that was left was the blue one. We found it in the trunk of one of the cars in the pile-up.

“My turn!” called Wyldstyle.

“Not yet!” I stopped. “We need the Lock design!” My left arm started buzzing. “And I think I can get us that. Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate Rift detection!” I found the rift opening near a pile of goo. “Identify source of rift!” The info beamed into my head. “That one again?” I muttered. “Oh well. Locate help from W-1-Z-4-R-D-0-F-0-Z!” The Wizard of Oz’s podium appeared on top of the goo.

“Master build senses, tingling!” giggled Wyldstyle.

“Have at it!” I directed. Wyldstyle punched the podium, turning it into Lego bricks, and built a large speaker out of them. The ghosts nearby saw this and possessed it, making it move to the pile-up and turn around to make a Chroma Lock design appear. The left L was green, the circle was blue, and the right L was red.

“Now, my turn,” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal!” The lock design appeared. “Chroma! Red! Takeru! Chroma! Yellow! Emmanuel! Chroma! Blue! Batman!”

“What does she…?” began Takeru before I shoved him into the red paint. “HEY!” he snapped.

“It’ll evaporate soon,” I assured. Emmanuel and Batman went into their respective colors. Batman entered the circle, making blue, before heading to the left L. Emmanuel joined Batman and I led Takeru to the right L. The speaker attracted more ghosts before it started playing a snatch of a song.

_Who’re you gonna call?_

_GHOSTBUSTERS!_

The sound blew the pile-up out of the way before the speaker fell apart. We went on our way, avoiding streets with goo blocking the path, and went up one to see the Ghostbusters still being dragged along. The street was blocked by goo at the other end. “Looks like we’re flying,” I mused. I swapped out the current i.d tag for the Ben 10 one again. The alien icons scrolled by. “This time, I want Ghostfreak!” I selected his icon.

“Ben 10 Ghostfreak Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“Thank you!” I remarked as the wardrobe closed on me. My armor changed into that of a stereotypical ghost with lines all over me. “GHOSTFREAK!” I said. I grabbed Batman, Hongo, and let Wyldstyle onto my back.

“EYE!” called Takeru’s belt. “Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!”

“Henshin!” announced Takeru. He then pulled and pushed the lever.

“KAIGAN! ORE! Let’s go! Kakugo! Go, Go, Go, Ghost! Go! Go! Go! Go!” continued his belt. Ghost allowed Emmanuel onto his back and grabbed Xiomara and Gandalf. We went over the goo and turned right. We went down some more city blocks and flew over more goo. When we went to another intersection, the Statue of Liberty walked by. The Ghostbusters' hearse dodged the feet. We followed the hearse to see a rift opening, allowing a dropship in police colors to fly into this universe. A billboard advertising the Ghostbusters fell on one advertising Stay Puft Marshmallows and they tumbled onto the street.

“These specters are truly restless,” muttered Gandalf. “And, rather bothersome!”

“I’ve got an idea,” called Batman. “I need to get onto the roof of that building.”

“I got you!” I replied. I flew Batman up to the rooftop to see a crane over the police dropship.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Yellow, on the same rooftop as me! Blue, on the crane! Magenta, above the dropship, same height as the crane arm! Shift! Megumi! Blue!” I arrived on the crane and found the controls. I used them to swing the crane arm over the dropship, under the magenta portal. “Shift! Gandalf! Magenta!” Gandalf appeared on the arm. He made the hook go down and latch onto the dropship. The pilot tried to get away but ended up making the dropship spin around the arm and smash the billboards, allowing us passage. We went to the alleys and arrived at Ghostbusters HQ to see a rift open up near the battered Ghostbusters. A small attack ship came out and a man with military style hair, black clothing, and a full beard flew out of the rift.

“Now, that’s what I call a Phantom Zone,” chuckled the man. He approached Egon, who waved some device over him.

“Ray, this looks extraordinarily bad!” reported Egon.

“The Foundation Element!” cheered the man. “Good!” He swiped the device from Egon’s hands.

“The PKE meter is a Foundation Element?!” gulped Xiomara.

“And PKE means…?” I asked.

“Psychokinetic Energy,” clarified Emmanuel. “The stuff ghosts are made of!”

“Your cooperation is noted,” boomed the man that stole the PKE meter. He then threw the Ghostbusters into his ship.

“Are you sure that’s needed?” burbled a voice. Sludgiona then popped up from the sewers.

“Without the Ghostbusters,” boasted the man, “the pitiful residents of this planet won’t stand a chance! New Krypton will rise from their ashes! All will kneel before Zod!” He flew up to his ship and Sludgiona headed into the Ghostbusters HQ, a firehouse refurbished.

“Krypton?” hissed Batman. “This is the one time I’d be happy to see Superman.”

“What’s General Zod doing, working for Vortech?!” asked Xiomara.

“Not so fast, Zod!” called Batman as he threw a batarang at one of the ship’s wings. It crashed onto the roof of Ghostbusters HQ. “We have to get that Foundation Element before they can escape!” declared Batman.

“Indeed!” replied Gandalf. “Although, I suspect we may encounter some otherworldly resistance!”

“Xiomara, Emmanuel, Hongo, suit up,” I directed. “We’re going in hot!”

“Understood!” replied Emmanuel.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” called the three. They transformed, and we headed into the lion’s spectral den.


	46. Chapter 46

When we entered Ghostbusters HQ, a particularly ugly ghost took out the stairs. “We should try the basement,” figured Gandalf. “That is a potential source of the ghosts.”

“Change that from potential source to actual source,” corrected Emmanuel as ghosts came up from the basement.

“Great, the stairs going down there are blocked,” I hissed.

“Allow me,” called Wyldstyle. She built a laser cutter and cut a hole into the floor. “Away we go!” she cheered. We jumped into the basement and found the containment unit.

“The undead seem to be flowing from this red tomb,” mused Gandalf. “It is ruptured, perhaps it could be sealed.”

“I see a chroma disc,” I called. It was the blue one and an elderly ghost was floating at a bookshelf near the stairs her spectral kin were flying up towards. She had no legs and wore an old librarian’s dress, her hair in a stern bun.

“Her again?” whispered Arch.

“The old Librarian?” asked Seeker.

“Who is it?” I quizzed.

“That’s the first ghost we see in the first movie,” replied Seeker. “This was way before Winston joined.”

“So, what do we do?” I whispered.

“We have to succeed where Peter and the others failed,” answered Arch, “and make contact.”

“You’re right,” muttered Batman. “Someone needs to speak with her.” We then turned to Wyldstyle.

“…NO!” she whispered harshly. “I refuse!”

“But this may get you over your fear!” I countered.

“There’s a realm called the Haunted Forest where I’m from,” argued Wyldstyle. “Whenever I go there, something happens that makes me change my underpants!”

“Well, maybe this is the one that won’t do so,” I guessed. “Go on, maybe you’ll get a new name!” Wyldstyle looked at us, then sighed.

“Just so you know,” she hissed, “if I do have to change my underpants, you owe me fresh ones.” She got up and got to talking distance. “Hello!” she called. “I’m Wyldstyle.” The Librarian didn’t respond. “Where were you from, originally?” The Librarian shushed her! Wyldstyle slowly closed her eyes. “Does…anyone else have a bright idea?” she asked.

“I have one,” whispered Ghost. “Stay close, everyone. This needs timing!” He got low as if he were about to pounce. “Ready? 3! 2! 1! GET HER!”

“NO!” shouted Seeker. Too late. The Librarian morphed into a scary version and roared. We all screamed as she flew around the bookshelf and set it on fire before joining the other ghosts. As we recovered, I started laughing.

“Get her?!” I then snapped as I slammed my fist onto Ghost’s head. “That was your brilliant idea?!”

“Give me a break!” protested Ghost as he massaged his head. “I punched ghosts in my day. I didn’t talk to them!”

“Well, you better put that fire out!” I snapped.

“That was the ghost’s fault!” argued Ghost.

“But YOU provoked her!” I countered.

“I can supply Ghost with the tools needed,” called Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of water, Ghost!” Ghost was surrounded in a blue aura. He formed a water stream in his hands. While he put out the fire, Ichigō led me to a vent system that I could fix as a giant.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Enlarge scale of Royal!” I then put my right fist into the air while putting my left fist at my hip. I then grew. I patched up the vent. “Lessen scale of Royal!” said Hongo. I shrunk and crawled into the vent. I tried climbing, but to no avail.

“Dang it!” I hissed. “If only I could crawl like Spider-Man!” Then, I realized I was still in my Ghostfreak armor. “…Megumi, you can be an utter idiot sometimes,” I said. I flew to the end of the vent to find a bunch of wires and circuitry. “Well, as long as I have the i.d tag,” I mused. I then activated the icon ring and selected another form.

“Ben 10 Grey Matter Steel!” announced Vortoranii. My suit changed to have a grey helmet and green armor.

“GREY MATTER!!” I shouted. The natural intelligence of the Galvan species then flowed into my head. “So, we just connect this wire here to stabilize the Isolated Ecto-grid, swap out that circuit with this one to bypass the redundant Spectrum Differentializers, and link the new circuit with this wire to expose the Spectragrasmic generators to a small 1.2 ectojam dose of Ectoplasm.” I heard a DING. “And I did whatever I did!” I cheered. I popped out of the vent.

“Normalize scale of Royal,” announced Ichigō. “You just exposed a chroma lock design above the leak. Ghost just put out the fire and Gandalf fixed the yellow chroma disc with a dancing toaster with slime in it.”

“Sounds as weird as what I did in there,” I replied as I swapped out Ben’s i.d tag for my own. “Before you ask, no, I no longer remember what I did, I couldn’t begin to tell you how I did it.”

“All that’s left is the red disc,” mused Ghost.

“I see it in that box,” replied Batman, “but the way to open it is closed.”

“Not while I’m here,” boasted Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of Earth, Batman!” Batman was surrounded in a green aura and pointed his hand to the ground near the advanced box opener. A large vine then opened the area and we pushed the box into it. The box opened, and the disc came out. Wyldstyle got a good look at the Chroma lock design I revealed to her. Yellow left L shape, red circle, and blue right L shape.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The lock design appeared on the floor. “Chroma! Red! Ichigō! Chroma! Yellow! Batman! Chroma! Blue! Ghost!” The three people got themselves painted and they jumped into their respective places. The Chroma lock activated tech that activated some sort of vacuum cleaner for ghosts and was preparing a secondary wall.

“That did it!” reported Batman. “The ghosts are clearing out. Whatever this thing is, it certainly is impressive technology.”

“That’s not yours to take,” I teased. “Now, let’s head back upstairs. We need to fix the way to the roof.” We headed upstairs and were greeted to Sludgiona looking around the place. She clapped eyes on us.

“Ah, the killer is here,” she remarked.

“Hiro committed suicide!” I protested. “He went with a rather messy way, instead of seppuku.”

“He’s no samurai,” countered Ichigō. “And I doubt anyone would want to watch or help him die quickly.”

“Fair point,” I conceded. “In any case, our business does not concern you, Sludgiona. Leave in peace.”

“Not a chance!” burbled Sludgiona. She then grabbed me and I felt myself getting weaker and weaker by the second.

“What’s…happening…to…?” I gasped before she flung me aside.

“The sludge that makes up my body drains a person of mana, their life energy,” revealed Sludgiona. “Any hit that is given to me, I simply take a bit of mana to heal myself.” She then started slugging my friends. True to her word, she absorbed some mana from Arch, Xiomara, Ichigō, Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf. She then decked Ghost hard, then knelt down with her hand above his head. “Don’t worry, I promise I will be quick.” She then placed her hand on Ghost’s head, then something crackled and she was flung back from energy discharge. She splattered against the wall and dripped down to the floor. When she reformed, she was confused. “Anti-Mana discharge?” she yelped. “HOW?!” Ghost started chuckling.

“You said that mana is life energy, right?” he asked.

“Yes, and a living being is saturated in the stuff!” answered Sludgiona.

“Not when you have a Ghost Driver on your waist,” remarked Ghost.

“That does not negate the fact that you’re alive!” gurgled Sludgiona. “The only way you could generate a discharge like that is if you have no mana to absorb! That only happens when I touch a ghost!”

“Why do you think I’m called Kamen Rider Ghost?” asked Ghost. “My Ghost Driver allows me to be a ghost, even though I’m alive! When I’m in my Rider form, I have no mana to absorb! And now, I can easily beat you!” Sludgiona’s hand hovered over my head.

“Move one single muscle against me,” she warned, “and I reduce her to a shriveled husk!”

“Not an effective threat,” I remarked as I knocked her aside. I then ran up to Ghost and touched him, gaining his i.d tag. I inserted it and selected his base form.

“Ghost Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“KAIGAN! ORE!” called the Ghost Driver’s voice. “Let’s go! Kakugo! Go, Go, Go, Ghost! Go! Go! Go! Go!” My armor changed to look like Ghost. Sludgiona scoffed.

“You’re alive!” she bubbled “A simple makeover won’t save you!” She punched but got a discharge. “NOT YOU TOO!” she screamed.

“Now, the REAL test is if my Ectonurite armor will protect me too,” I remarked as I went through the whole sequence of selecting Ghostfreak.

“Ben 10 Ghostfreak Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“GHOSTFREAK!” I shouted. When I finished, Sludgiona punched me again and got the discharge again. “I knew it!” I cheered. “Say, Sludgiona, have you heard of this saying? ‘Possession is nine tenths of the law!’” I then phased into her body and controlled her movements. “YAHOO!” I said through her mouth. “MEGUMI IS AWESOME!” I then used her arms to slap her face. “Stop hitting yourself! Dude, stop hitting yourself! Why are you hitting yourself?!” I then made her dance. “Loo dee doo, I’m dancing!” I sang. “Because I’m Sludgiona, the mana vampire! Hey, my slave chip is making me work for Lord Vortech! It’s really uncomfortable! Kick it off of me!” Ghost volunteered to do that. He pulled the lever and pushed it.

“DAI KAIGAN!” (Eyes wide open!) announced the Ghost Driver. “ORE OMEGA DRIVE!”

“Inochi, moyasu ze!” (My life is burning bright!) declared Ghost as he leapt into the air with an orange eye glyph behind him. He then stuck his feet out and flew towards Sludgiona. I got out and Ghost kicked the slave chip off. Sludgiona then collapsed into a puddle of sludge after spasming uncontrollably.

“And that, as they say, is that,” I sighed happily.

“MEGUMI, YOU UTTER DUNCE!” roared Vortoranii.

“Excuse me?!” I hissed.

“Destroying her slave chip was the thing the list said NOT to do!!” elaborated Vortoranii.

“What?!” I asked.

“Sludgiona had implanted that chip so she can survive going to other universes,” explained Vortoranii. “She has a rare condition called Acclimation Syndrome. For some reason, some universes are so different in their physical laws that some people may die or be assimilated into that universe. Once you do, it’s a lot harder to get back to your own unless you have some sort of anchor.”

“And that slave chip was her anchor?” I realized.

“Originally, it was a declamation chip, but Vortech heavily modified it,” replied Vortoranii. “It was the only thing keeping her from dying or being trapped in one universe or on Vorton. The physical laws on Vorton are adaptive to each individual life-form, so you CAN’T die or be acclimated. And making an anchor is hard to do, even in your home universe.”

“And, by destroying the chip,” gulped Ghost as he realized our mistake, “we just ensured she can never go home.”

“What have we done?” I murmured. “I gotta do something, apologize or help her!”

“Oh, yeah, I’m SURE she’d accept an apology or help from you!” snarked Vortoranii.

“Well, I have to do something!” I protested. “I…” Ghostbusters HQ’s shaking interrupted my train of thought.

“Table that for later,” suggested Batman. “We need to get to the roof!”

“I better take care of this,” I muttered. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found it near the stairs. “Identify source of rift!” The info beamed into my head. “Locate help from T-H-3-L-3-G-0-M-0-V-1-3!” I called. Some weird bunk bed style couch came up in place of the stairs.

“Emmet’s Double-Decker Couch?” muttered Wyldstyle. “I didn’t know he kept it.”

“It’s one of his creations,” I recalled.

“Fair point,” conceded Wyldstyle. We got onto the top couch and headed to the top floor, finding another set of stairs leading to the roof. Zod had fixed the ship and it was hovering above the ground. We got into a fighting stance as we saw that a Kamen Rider based on the rhino beetle was on the ground.

“JŌ!” called Ichigō.

“Shigeru Jō?” I asked.

“You know him?” quizzed Ichigō.

“Death talked about him during my reception,” I explained “So, that’s Kamen Rider Stronger.”

“I’m amazed you know him,” rasped a voice. “But, it takes an inferior being to know one.” A humanoid creature came out of the shadows. It had large, metal, red, three-fingered claws and a grey triangular head.

“Metalran!” snarled Vortoranii.

“He’s…not showing up on the list,” I observed.

“He’s a renegade,” replied Vortoranii. “He’s joined Vortech to accelerate his plans to conquer the multiverse.”

“Oh, dear, another evil maniac,” I sighed.

“Evil?” hissed Metalran. “Maniac? No, VISIONARY! I am so much more than the others. I am SUPERIOR! The Tarlaxians are content with a provisionary Empire with a puppet like Scorpainia on the throne. They bow and scrape to lesser beings like you to get new technology and reverse-engineer what they begged like dogs for! But, we DID create the Vortex Driver and its subsequent upgraded versions, my sister, Sludgiona, specifically. Yet, she’s still content with bowing to the puppet, bending and upgrading others technology!” He then grabbed the cannon on Zod’s ship. He started glowing as smaller versions of the cannon sprouted from his forearms and shoulders. “I, on the other hand, do not upgrade other’s technology! It upgrades ME! And I will upgrade myself with my sister’s greatest creation!” He pointed to my belt.

“I can’t begin to tell you how that’s NOT gonna happen!” I declared. “Super Charge!” My armor bulked up and changed color. “Dai Super Charge!” I announced.

“Electro KICK!” called a voice. Stronger then flew in, kicking Metalran and making him dizzy. Metalran shook his head to clear it.

“What the?” he quizzed.

“The heavens call... The earth cries out... The crowds roar... All calling on me to strike back against evil,” announced the attacker. “Now listen up, villains! I am the warrior of justice, Kamen Rider Stronger!” Stronger was ready to fight!

“Kamen Rider Arch!” Arch continued. “My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Vortex! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“Kamen Rider Ghost! Inochi, moyasu ze!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“An impressive performance,” laughed Zod, “for such insignificant forms of life. However, you find yourselves between me and a glorious new Krypton. So, I’m afraid that your particular species is about to become extinct!”

“An evil Superman, great,” muttered Wyldstyle. “What else could go wrong?”

“Must you?!” I protested.

“His ship has laser cannons,” reminded Batman.

“Yeah, thanks!” snarked Wyldstyle.

“Kneel before Zod!” roared Zod. He then got into his ship and activated the guns.

“Zod’s laser is open to attack while it charges!” called Batman as he pointed out a weak point.

“On it!” I replied. Well, I WAS on it until some sort of sludge hit me from the side and pinned me to the wall. Ghost ran after Metalran and swapped his Eyecon for a yellow one.

“EYE!” announced the Ghost Driver. “Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!” He pulled the lever and pushed it as a new white parka with yellow trim came out. “KAIGAN! EDISON!” The parka Ghost was wearing vanished while the new parka landed on him and changed the face plate to a yellow lightbulb with twin electric stems. “Ereki! Hirameki! Hatsumei-ō!” (Electricity! Ideas! Invention king!) Ghost then summoned a large sword and took half the blade off, reversed it, tilted the handle down, and put the blade bit back, turning it into a gun. While that was going on, the sludge formed Sludgiona’s head, and a rather angry one at that.

“I can’t go home, thanks to you!” she roared. “I can’t see my queen! My friends! My husband and wife!”

“Sludgiona!” I gulped. “I know about your condition! I made a mistake down there! A ghastly, horrible mistake, because I let my zeal to free your people get to me without considering the consequences. I’m sorry.”

“A bit late for sorry, now!” snarled Sludgiona.

“But, I have various resources to help you!” I assured. “I even have a science team with an intimate understanding of rift creation technology and Tarlaxian biology! Rusty, Emily, Lukas, Sir Alistair, Elphaba, and Chell, they all can help you!”

“A haywire Dalek,” began Metalran as he shoved Ghost aside while releasing his Ghost Driver and tossing a red Eyecon in the air, “a fat rose nerd, a quiet four eyes, a senile fool playing Cyborg soldier, a green-skinned witch, and a mute?!” He was crossing the line, insulting my friends. “Those people couldn’t make water if you stuck them in an over-iced freezer with a blow torch! Look, Dear Sister, we’ve had our differences, but you cured me of MY condition. I’m sure I can cure yours.”

“I can’t promise success, but we can at least get other scientists started on a cure for your condition,” I argued.

“I CAN promise success!” countered Metalran.

“How do I know either of you is actually looking out for me?!” burbled Sludgiona as Batman finally got past the ship and hit its weak spot. I then moved my hand through Sludgiona’s mass and cancelled my transformation. I then took off my belt and showed it to her.

“Take it back,” I offered. “Use your creation to free your people and cure you of your curse.” Sludgiona looked at me, then Metalran, then me, then she released me and got whatever stains were on my dress off. She handed my belt back.

“You can warp to your Vortex form,” she explained. “Just say the code you assigned. You fulfilled the power of the prophecy I was trying to obtain myself. You need it more than I do.” She turned to Metalran. “As I recall, you killed our parents. I see no reason to side with you!” Metalran got angry and made a warped version of the Ghost Driver appear at his waist. He opened it and inserted the Eyecon he was tossing. When he closed it, his belt spoke in a darker tone than Ghost’s.

“EYE! Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!” He pulled and pushed his lever. “KAIGAN! MUSASHI!”

“Musashi?!” I gulped as I went back into Vortex.

“And this Musashi is…?” asked Arch.

“A rōnin that developed a duel-wield sword style,” explained Batman as he hit the weak spot again. “I studied from his works.”

“Rōnin is a samurai with no master,” I elaborated.

“Kettō! Zubatto! Chō kengō!” (Duel! Piercing! Super Swordsman!) sang Metalran’s knock-off Ghost Driver. Two versions of Ghost’s sword appeared in each hand.

“Any idiot who opposes me will be destroyed!” snarled Metalran. He started swinging the swords, albeit, not with the same skill as Miyamoto Musashi. Still, he held his own. Ghost got out of the way and let Sludgiona and I handle him. He held his multipurpose weapon to the Ghost Driver.

“DAI KAIGAN!” (Eyes wide open!) it announced. It then looped on “Gan Gan Minaa!” (Watch out!) He leveled his gun at the weak point. “OMEGA SHOOT!” He pulled the trigger and a large electrical shot hit the ship. It then crashed into a building as Zod flew out.

“My ship!” he roared. “Are you trying to provoke me?!” He surrounded himself with ghosts as he fired his heat vision. Metalran, meanwhile, was pushing me and Sludgiona back.

“He’s really strong!” I gulped.

“He’s not,” countered Sludgiona. “It’s the tech that’s doing that. He can only mimic, no original thoughts in his skull.” I then got an idea.

“Can you distract him for a while?” I asked.

“My pleasure,” obliged Sludgiona. She fired off several balls of her biomass, causing Metalran to swat them away, while I went to Batman and pointed out a grapple hook. Batman nodded as I changed i.d tags.

“Batman Steel!” whispered Vortoranii. We fired our grapple guns and released the Ghostbusters. They tumbled to the roof.

“You okay?” Ray asked Egon.

“I’m all right,” assured Egon. “Are you all right?”

“All right,” replied Peter. “You?”

“I’m all right, you?” gasped Winston. The process went on for a while until I broke it up.

“ALL RIGHT!” I shouted. “We’ve got ghosts surrounding that mook up there!”

“Let me handle him,” called Ghost as he got the Musashi Eyecon back. He went into his Ore form and spoke to Zod. “I am Tenkūji Takeru, Kamen Rider Ghost!” he announced. “I order you to leave this part of reality and return to your own universe, or a nearby one, forthwith, and make an oath never to pester this universe again!” His tone was shaky.

“Nice, Ghost-san,” I muttered. “He’s really shaking now.”

“Are you a god?” asked Zod.

“…Well, no, but…” replied Ghost. Judging by the facepalming of the Ghostbusters, Seeker, and Arch, that was not something to say.

“Then, DIE, as you deserve to!” roared Zod as he fired his laser vision. We were tossed into the air and landed hard on the roof. As we picked ourselves up, Arch grabbed Ghost’s horn.

“Ghost, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say YES!” snapped Arch.

“Throw it!” called Peter. The Ghostbuster fired on the ghosts and got them away from Zod. Zod punched the roof as he landed.

“Pathetic!” he boasted. “You puny humans cannot hope to stand in my way!” He then flew over a water pipe with a valve!

“Gandalf!” I called.

“The Elemental Keystone WOULD help out here, for sure,” replied Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of lightning, Vortex!” I was surrounded in a cyan aura and headed to the pipe Zod was hovering over.

“You know, I’m willing to bet that there are certain laws you can’t help BUT to obey,” I quipped as I turned the valve, dousing him in water. “One such law must be the one about electricity!” I zapped the water, thus dousing him in electricity. He got away and recovered.

“Ouch,” he said, mockingly. He then allowed himself a short laugh. “Is that all you have?” He hovered over a gas pipe.

“Well, as Americans put it,” mused Arch, “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” He turned the valve and doused him in gasoline. “Gandalf, fire, if you please.”

“Element of fire, Arch!” announced Gandalf. Arch was surrounded in a red aura and unleashed flames on Zod.

“Fire?” laughed Zod. “You think fire, alone, can harm me?” He tore out the gas pipe and threw it onto the street. He then flew over a dirt patch.

“Okay, that’s MY profession,” called Seeker.

“Element of Earth, Seeker!” announced Gandalf. Seeker was surrounded in a green aura as she made a large Venus Fly Trap grab him.

“What do you think you are doing?!” snarled Zod. We Riders then jumped into the air while Ghost pulled and pushed his lever again.

“DAI KAIGAN! ORE, OMEGA DRIVE” called the belt. He then leapt into the air and kicked with us.

“RIDER KICK!”

“RIDER SEEKER KICK!”

“RIDER ARCH KICK!”

“ELECTRO KICK!” announced Stronger.

“RIDER VORTEX KICK!” We kicked the Fly Trap Zod was trapped in. He was tossed into his ship and surrounded by green crystals.

“Kryptonite,” observed Batman. He then strode to Zod as he lay weakened amongst the Kryptonite. “I’ll take that,” he said as he took the PKE meter. The Ghostbusters then threw their trap and sucked all the ghosts in. Metalran saw the entire thing.

“Blast, another failed excursion,” he hissed. He then sprouted wings and jet engines.

“Metalran, help me!” called Zod.

“You’re on your own,” dismissed Metalran as he opened a rift. He went through as Zod glared at Batman.

“One solitary Foundation Element won’t help you much when Lord Vortech comes for you!” he snarled. “You are as doomed as I.”

“We’ll see,” replied Batman. A rift opened beneath Zod while another one opened behind us.

“Good!” sighed Wyldstyle. “I have had ENOUGH of spooks!”

“They aren’t all bad,” mused Gandalf.

“I have grave doubts,” joked Wyldstyle. Gandalf chuckled.

“Nice one!” he said.

“I may develop those same doubts,” muttered Sludgiona. I remembered that she was trapped in this universe

“I wasn’t lying,” I assured her as we Riders cancelled our transformations. “With the resources we have, we’ll get you back to your people, help you survive the trip, and cure your condition.”

“And we can help as well, with our knowledge of other planes of existence,” supplied Peter. “Besides, we could use someone like you here. You’d like our pet ghost, Slimer.”

“Why would you help me?” asked Sludgiona. “I’ve caused nothing but trouble for you!”

“Because I don’t think of you as an enemy,” I answered. “I think of you as a friend. And, you don’t leave friends hanging, you help them.” I held out my hand for a handshake. She stared at my hand, then glared at me.

“I’m not ready to call you my friend,” she snarled. “I wouldn’t need your help if you didn’t destroy my declamation chip! However, I will need your help.” She then headed to the stairs. “I’ll be downstairs, cleaning up,” she told her current landlords, the Ghostbusters.

“Well, that’s pleasant,” snarked Peter. He then turned to us. “Are you guys also from another universe?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered. “I’m Megumi Hishikawa, Queen of the Feudal Nerd Society.” Peter and I shook hands. “I apologize for dumping Sludgiona on you guys, but she has no place else to go. If she tried to go home now, she’ll die.”

“We’ll work on her condition here,” replied Egon. “And I’d like to ask some questions of Ghost here.”

“It’s just Takeru,” corrected Takeru. “And I’m afraid I need to get home.”

“As do I,” replied Jō. “Yuriko is worried about me. It’s clear that I’m not suited for this sort of thing.”

“Jō, you’re a Kamen Rider,” reminded Hongo. “As long as you live…”

“It’s that ‘live’ bit that I’m failing at,” interrupted Jō. “See this mark on my brow?” He pointed to a yellow ring on his head. “This is my halo. I’m dead.”

“…Dead?” asked Hongo.

“It was at the hands of a Black Satan remnant,” replied Jō. “They were about to blow up Tokyo. I made the explosive detonate too early and died in the process.”

“…Oh,” sighed Hongo, sadly.

“Don’t worry, I died as I lived, fighting evil wherever it was,” assured Jō. Hongo gave a sad smile.

“That’s the best death a Kamen Rider can ask for,” he remarked. He then embraced Jō. “I will miss you, old friend.”

“And I, you,” replied Jō. Black mist then came out of the shadows as the PKE meter in Batman’s hands spiked rapidly. The mist coalesced into Death. The Ghostbusters readied their packs, but Death raised a hand.

“I’ve never seen her before in Tobin’s Spirit Guide!” yelped Ray.

“This is Death,” answered Emmanuel. “Do not be alarmed, she is a friend.”

“You’re friends with the Grim Reaper?!” gulped Winston.

“And I know a lot about you, especially you, Winston Zeddemore,” whispered Death. “An Air Force Police Captain, before you joined the Ghostbusters.” His colleagues turned to him.

“Why would the Grim Reaper have an interest in you?” asked Egon. Winston sighed.

“I was in Vietnam, early in my career,” he explained. “I only told Janine that steady paycheck bit because I wanted to play it safe. I figured you had other crazies coming in for my position before me, claiming to see ghosts.”

“And you actually saw some when you were deployed?” asked Ray.

“Okay, let’s not go too much into it,” stopped Peter. “We can afford to believe him.”

“Thanks,” appreciated Winston.

“Now, Jō, dear, it’s time to go,” whispered Death.

“See you later,” called Jō to Hongo.

“Farewell, old friend,” replied Hongo. Jō faded with Death into the black mist and vanished.

“We better get going as well,” I sighed. “Farewell! We’ll look you up if we need some ghosts busted! Take care of Sludgiona!”

“See you around!” bid Peter as we went into the portal. “Keep in touch!”


	47. Chapter 47

I made my displeasure clear to Zod. I slammed him to the ground, threw him into the wall, and tossed him across the room. “YOU UTTER FAILURE!” I roared. “I thought having a Kryptonian would give me an edge, but you’re an utter failure! You allowed mere humans to best you! And you didn’t raise a finger to take the Foundation Element from Batman!”

“My Lord, this is but a temporary setback!” yelped Zod.

“That put us back by two years!” I roared. “Luthor! Continue punishing him, I grow fatigued.” Lex Luthor put on a pair of gloves with Kryptonite knuckles and dished out more pain onto Zod. I headed to my quarters and heard somebody being strangled. I put my ear to the door and heard Igura.

“You promised me that the Foundation Element would confirm the lead you had obtained and that it would be an easy heist, and what is the result?!” she snarled. “A lost Foundation Element! A lead lost! A Tarlaxian freed! And Megumi stronger and with more allies!”

“One thing…” choked out her hapless victim, Metalran, if my guess on the voice is right, “…you fail to realize…is that…!”

“ENOUGH PRATTLE!” screeched Igura as I heard her toss Metalran into a wall. “If I am to find Hiro’s soul, it will have to be through other means! I must deal with this matter myself!” She exited the room and ran into me. “Lord Vortech!” she gasped. “I didn’t…how much have you heard?”

“Enough,” I replied. “So, it was Metalran that gave you the tip that Hiro’s soul was back in your universe.”

“Even if that were true,” she muttered, “the trail is cold. If he was there, he’s long gone. I must continue the search through other means. Excuse me.” She left to search again.

“Good luck,” I bid.

* * *

“Another Foundation Element!” cheered X-PO as we returned. “Nice work! You guys have exceeded my expectations!”

“Yeah, that’s kind of my thing,” rasped Batman.

“I can’t believe you guys entered the _Ghostbusters_ universe!” muttered Mr. Saunders. “The GOOD one!”

“For the last time, the _2016_ one wasn’t bad!” protested Mrs. Saunders.

“Not this again!” wailed Emily.

“Let’s not do that garbage, okay?” pleaded Richard. “That’s as stupid as the _Star Wars_ vs. _Star Trek_ debate.”

“So, what do you want to do next?” asked X-PO. “Maybe kick back? Have a cappuccino? See what’s on the DVR?”

“What we want to do next,” interjected Gandalf, “is rescue our compatriots and save the entire multiverse!”

“Wow, this guy’s more literal than I am,” muttered X-PO, “and I’m a robot! Okay, the next Foundation Element is located within a trans-reality pocket dimension.”

“What does that mean?” asked Batman. Chell then signed what X-PO meant.

“It means,” translated Tanisha, “it will be…weird.”

“Sure,” murmured Wyldstyle. “That’ll make a change. You see who I’ve been hanging out with? Weird’s not a problem for me.”

“You want weird?” countered Elphaba. “You should see Mr. Saunders’ nonsense!”

“It’s not nonsense!” protested Mr. Saunders. “Wait here, I need to show you guys something!” He disappeared.

“Mama, should I be frightened?” asked Emily.

“This IS your father we’re talking about,” gulped Mrs. Saunders. We waited a good ten minutes before Mr. Saunders came back. Oh, lord, I wish he didn’t! He was wearing a full-face mask with red compound eyes and wings behind them. The outfit consisted of his old army gear and an absurd American Flag design on the belt buckle!

“I am…KAMEN RIDER FRED! I have new socks!” announced Mr. Saunders. Cue the crickets. “Uh…guys?”

“What the hell are you dressed up as?!” yelped Richard.

“I’m Kamen Rider Fred!” replied Mr. Saunders.

“…I think I forgot to…brain…without a…something!” stammered Turretorg.

“My life is NOT gonna burn bright,” moaned Takeru. “It’s gonna fizzle out with a whimper of pain from what I’m seeing right now.”

“My eyes!” wailed Hongo.

“Daddy,” cried Emily, “you make me want to punch a bunny!”

“Not mine!” I protested.

“But, with my new powers of American Awesomeness,” continued Mr. Saunders, “I will fight crime, protect the innocent, work for world peace, and…!”

“FRED, YOU TAKE THAT STUPID COSTUME OFF RIGHT NOW,” roared Mrs. Saunders, “OR, I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL TASE YOU IN YOUR JUNK!”

“Oh, come on!” protested Mr. Saunders. “I have a mask and belt and everything!”

“CHANGE! NOW!” everyone roared. Mr. Saunders slumped and walked off in a somber tone.

“Now that THAT’S burned into my skull,” I muttered. “Takeru, I believe this is goodbye.”

“Bye, everyone!” bid Takeru. “Oh, before I forget, do you guys know these?” “These” were studs.

“That’s 150,000,” counted Vortoranii. “2,154,000 studs in total.” Emily then slapped her forehead.

“I forgot to add our 358,000 studs from our excursion to _Jurassic World_!” she wailed.

“Come on!” I cried.

“Sorry!” replied Emily.

“Now we’re at 2,512,000 studs!” muttered Vortoranii. “This is absurd!”

“Are studs valuable?” asked Takeru.

“They were when the Vortonians existed,” replied X-PO. “I would stick to your currency though. Studs probably aren’t legal tender in your universe. Speaking of, your ride’s here.” A rift opened for him.

“Goodbye!” called Takeru. He went through. Hiroki then released his breath.

“Something you want to share with us?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to say this in front of Takeru,” explained Hiroki, “but I didn’t like the TV show based on his adventures.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because there was so much wasted potential!” ranted Hiroki. “On top of that, Takeru’s allies were trying too hard to be funny! I just…felt disappointed. He’s the second Rider that disappointed me.”

“Who’s the first?” asked Okaa-san.

“With all due respect, ZX (pronounce Zecross),” answered Hiroki. “Again, they didn’t expand on the story enough! The whole movie he starred in could have easily been an entire TV series!”

“I suppose so,” conceded Okaa-san.

“So, how does a PKE meter work?” I asked, changing the subject.

“When it’s on,” explains Richard as he turned it on, “these arms rise up and start flashing to indicate that there’s some form of psychokinetic activity. It functions as a ghost radar. Once it finds something, it beeps at a certain pace until it finds or loses something. If it loses something, the arms go lower, the flashing slows down, and the beeping goes at a slower rate. Gaining something is indicated by the opposite actions.” Then, it happened. The arms raised and started flashing.

“…Seriously?!” gulped Wyldstyle.

“Suits on,” I recommended.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we announced.

“I heard a Henshin!” called Mr. Saunders as he came back in his usual clothes. He saw us. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got a ghost, Daddy,” said Touché. Mr. Saunders then dropped the lovable idiot act and assumed his army colonel persona.

“What’s our move here?” he requested.

“We find this thing,” I replied. “Richard, take point.”

“On it,” he confirmed. He led us around the room and stopped when the arms went higher and flashed more rapidly at the West Door. He scanned down the hall both ways. We followed him to his right. We went down it until we stopped at an armory.

“Better have those that can use weapons to grab them,” suggested Arch.

“Agreed,” I replied. “Those that can fight, grab a weapon.” The fighters did so as we left. The PKE meter went nuts as we faced the end of the hall. There was a transmat at the other end and the robot that killed Heather was at the other end, fiddling with it. The fighters then returned. “Stay close!” I whispered. “No one move yet!” The robot carried out its work. It then put down the tools it was using and hovered back a bit to admire its handiwork. “ATTACK!” I ordered. The robot turned and saw us. It pulled a gun on us and fired. We fired back. “Try not to damage its head!” I called.

“What about it damaging ours?!” protested Mr. Babineaux. The robot then engaged the transmat and vanished in blue light.

“Kämpfer!” I ordered. “Find out where he went!”

“Hey, what’s going on down there?” asked Max’s voice over the comms. “Something beamed onto the _Executor_ and…” static then drowned out Max’s transmission.

“Max?” I tried. “Mr. Tennyson!”

“That robot must have severed communications somehow,” guessed Sengoku.

“Maybe with Team 10,” I argued, “but Vader’s up there as well.” I opened a communications channel with Vader. “Lord Vader, have you gotten eyes on a stowaway on your ship?” I was greeted with static. “Vader? Darth Vader! ANAKIN!”

“Er, doesn’t go by that name,” reminded Claw.

“What’s going on here?” asked an old voice. We all tried to locate the voice’s source. “Down here!” it called. I looked down to see some sort of tiny, grey, humanoid, frog-like creature with big eyes and dressed in green robes. It had some sort of grey extensions on its head and liver spots.

“Azmuth!” called Touché.

“You know him?” I asked.

“He’s the guy who created the Omnitrix,” answered Guard. “Also, the smartest being, in his words, in three (possibly five) galaxies.”

“Even people from other universes can remember it?” croaked Azmuth. “Why can’t Ben?”

“What are you doing here on Vorton?” I asked. “How did you get here?”

“Some lady calling herself a doctor dragged me into her impossible box and brought me here,” replied Azmuth. “She said she knew why I lost contact with my Omnitrix and where my Ultimatrix rig vanished.”

“THE Doctor,” I corrected. “She’s THE Doctor, a Gallifreyan, a Time-Lord, er, Lady, er…whatever.”

“In any case, she’s onboard a warship called the _Executor_ ,” continued Azmuth. “Trying to take care of the communications breakdown, no doubt.”

“We need to get up there!” I declared. “There’s a killer robot on the loose!”

“So, get us up there!” insisted Climb. I was confused by her question, then remembered.

“Dai Super Charge!” I announced. My armor bulked, then the bulk flew off as I made a rift beneath us. We ended up on the _Executor_ ’s bridge, with Vader trying to speak to the Doctor. She was wearing a lighter coat and pants with suspenders over a black shirt with a rainbow across her front. She was using her tool-kit as well as a new Sonic Screwdriver at some sort of console.

“Madam, it would be wise to…!” protested Vader.

“I’ll take it from here, Lord Vader,” I announced. Vader and the Doctor looked up to see me.

“How did you get on board?” asked the Doctor.

“Easy when you’re Vortex,” I replied. “Did you find any intruder?”

“Yes, that robot from _Jurassic World_ ,” answered the Doctor. “The one you talked about.”

“So, he DID end up here,” I mused. “He’s making our newest Foundation Element go haywire.” Guard held up the PKE meter. It was beeping again, but steadily.

“That way,” remarked Richard.

“Lead on,” I directed. Vader, some stormtroopers, and the Doctor joined us. We headed down the corridors for a bit until the blast doors closed.

“Open the blast doors! OPEN THE BLAST DOORS!” ordered a Stormtrooper as a trio of them tried to get the door open.

“Er, guys,” called Ben’s voice over the comms, “what’s going on?”

“Ghost possessing a robot,” I replied. “Can Gwen find out where it’s going?”

“Sadly, no,” answered Gwen. “If it’s a ghost, there’s no mana to track.”

“It’s possessing a robot?” asked Max. “We should be able to track via the electric charge it uses to move. Ben, can you use Grey Matter to find him?”

“Easy enough for the little guy with the mega brain,” boasted Ben. I heard a sound that indicated the Omnitrix was changing Ben. “UPGRADE!” shouted Ben's normal voice in a robotic undertone. “Oh, COME ON!”

“Ben, what did I say about banging on my Omnitrix?” snapped Azmuth.

“Azmuth?!” called Upgrade. “I didn’t push down on the core THAT hard! Anyways, I can work with this. There’s a computer terminal here.” Ben went silent for a while, then spoke again. “He’s trying to gain access to Engineering,” reported Upgrade. “Uh oh, he found me! He’s…typing a message. He can’t speak, so he wants me to read his message aloud. He can hear us.”

“Let’s hear it,” I directed.

“And, I quote, ‘Relinquish access to Engineering or I detonate this ship like an atom bomb!’” relayed Upgrade.

“I don’t respond well to threats,” hissed Vader.

“‘Your intimidation factor does not work on me, Sith Lord,’” replied Upgrade. “Er…that’s the…”

“I know who spoke, thank you,” dismissed Vader. “Intruder, I can cause undue pain to your body from here. Cease your operations at once.”

“‘Considering that I currently have the body of PO-Lambda 2279,’” relayed Upgrade, “‘I see no reason to be afraid.’”

“‘PO-Lambda?’” I asked. X-PO then came in.

“I heard the whole thing on the way here,” he answered. “So, the ghost has PO-Lambda?”

“What does the name mean?” I asked.

“Well, what do the letters in my name stand for?” asked X-PO.

“Experimental Portal Opera…that thing’s another you?!” I realized.

“A Lambda class Portal Operator Robot,” confirmed X-PO. “A more advanced version of me. 2278 was the last of the class sold before Vorton went the way it is. 2279 was finished in terms of physical build, but never got on the shelves because the A.I wasn’t ready yet.”

“You say that as if your type of robot was meant to be sold as if it were a TV set,” I mused.

“No, sold like TV antennas,” corrected X-PO. “The Gateways were the TV sets. The Vortonians simply viewed other universes for entertainment and only interfered when authorized to do so.”

“But, an entire species…” I muttered.

“It’s more like a contract between PO Robot and Owner,” replied X-PO. “We PO Robots have to go through an extensive interview process as well as our potential owners. There has to be compatibility between the two, otherwise, there’s no real respect.”

“So, it’s not slavery to you?” I quizzed.

“Not really,” replied X-PO. “I mean, yes, there ARE wackos who would use a PO Robot for evil gains, Vortech is a prime example, but, for the most part, we’re good judges of character.”

“I see,” I muttered.

“You’re not worried about abusing my abilities, are you?” asked X-PO.

“…That worry extends to everyone,” I murmured. Everyone stared.

“I will admit,” answered Claw, “I did NOT expect that from calm, collected Megumi Hishikawa.”

“Sorry,” I replied, “it’s just that I know what being taken advantage of looks like and I worry about that. I’m the daughter of a creature that did that.”

“Now, stop that!” snapped Okaa-san. “I don’t want to hear you use that kind of talk. You are NOT that monster.”

“Okaa-san’s right,” agreed Sengoku. “If you did take advantage of anyone, the F.N.S wouldn’t be here.”

“You helped us when we needed it,” reminded Guard. “That’s why we said you should be Queen. We know, deep down, you’ll be there for us. And, rest assured, we’ll be there for you.”

“I don’t normally make friends,” rasped Batman, “but the F.N.S has helped me in more ways than you could imagine.”

“This whole adventure, hell-raising though it is,” assured Ichigō, “is exciting. I wouldn’t get anywhere without you.”

“Thanks, everyone,” I answered, smiling under my helmet. Then, the ship lurched! “Ben, what on Earth was that?!” I called.

“The intruder went past the firewalls I set up!” answered Upgrade. The blast doors then opened to reveal Team 10. There was a black computer terminal with green circuit lines and the Omnitrix symbol.

“Can you get the Doctor, Rusty, and Kämpfer to engineering?” I asked. “They may need to fix whatever damage the intruder caused.” A mound of the colors that currently make up the terminal with a green circle rose up. The circle acted as the eye.

“It’s gonna be tricky, but I can manage,” replied Upgrade. “Rusty’s on the other end of the ship.”

“Rusty, this is Megumi,” I called over the Comms.

“Awaiting commands!” reported Rusty.

“Ben’s going to open a path to Engineering for you,” I explained. “Kämpfer and the Doctor will meet you there. You need to fix whatever damage the intruder caused.”

“I obey!” obliged Rusty.

“Let me go with them,” suggested Azmuth. “They need a genius.”

“Sure, like they need you going on about how you’re the smartest being in 12 galaxies,” snapped Upgrade as the eye changed shape to show irritation.

“Three, arguably five, galaxies,” corrected Touché. “Why is that so difficult for you to remember?!”

“Whatever,” dismissed Upgrade.

“Besides, the more geniuses, the merrier,” I continued. “Be careful, Azmuth.”

“Of course,” assured Azmuth. The Doctor let Azmuth onto her shoulder and she and Kämpfer took off.

“Vader, Brigadier, Guard, Ben, with me. We’re gonna try and regain control of the ship from the bridge,” I directed.

“Not a good idea,” countered Upgrade as the black and green circuit color melted off, formed a puddle, and then a figure rose from the puddle made of the stuff, but had a green front with green underarms and black circuit lines. This was Upgrade in his original Galvanic Mechamorph state. The Omnitrix symbol was on his chest. “The intruder is on his way to the bridge,” reported Upgrade. “He’ll try and stop us.”

“Then you and Vader keep him off of me and Guard’s back,” I replied.

“He’s not on the main bridge,” reported Vader. “I can sense him going to the backup bridge. We need to get down there quickly.”

“I may have a way,” answered Upgrade. He slapped the Omnitrix symbol and changed shape in a green light. He looked like a stereotypical ghost with one eye on a track and chains on his neck and arms. “GHOSTFREAK!” he announced in a harsh whisper. “I was hoping for Big Chill, but this will do. Which deck?”

“Deck 2, 10 floors below,” answered Vader. Ghostfreak then got me, Vader, and Guard close together and phased us all through the floor. We went down 10 levels before arriving at the backup bridge.

“Okay, that was weird!” I shuddered The intruder then arrived and Ghostfreak and Vader started fighting it. The intruder pulled out his gun and fired while Vader tried to crush its armor with the Force. It didn’t go well as the intruder wiggled out of his grasp and fired on Vader’s control panel. He started having trouble breathing. I went to fix it while Ghostfreak charged at the intruder, intending to knock the ghost in the machine out. The intruder wasn’t having it as he dodged Ghostfreak numerous times.

“All right, this song and dance is making me very angry!” hissed Ghostfreak. “It just makes want to unleash my ever-growing…” he slapped the Omnitrix symbol as he changed into “rrrrrRRRAAAATTHHH!” he said. The robot then shot Rath’s wrestling shorts. They burned up as Rath ran around, slapping on the fire. It died and revealed his crotch. It was covered in fur, but Rath seemed to get madder. “You…you burned up my pants!” He then roared and slammed the robot onto the floor and punched it a lot. “LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’, GHOST POSSESSING A ROBOT! YOU CAN BURN ME! YOU CAN BURN MY HOUSE! YOU CAN BURN THE THINGS I STAND FOR! YOU CAN EVEN BURN MY FEELINGS, IF I HAD ANY! BUT NO ONE, AND I MEAN NO ONE, BURNS AN APPOPLEXIAN OF HIS HIGHLY ADVANCED SENSE OF SHAME!” He was about to slam both fists down when the intruder caught them and tossed him aside. “KARATE’S GOOD!” roared Rath. “RATH’S GONNA CALL YOU KARATE-BOT, KARATE BOT!” The ship lurched again and Rath crashed onto the intruder.

“Backup bridge to engineering, what’s going on?!” I called.

“There’s a radiation leak!” replied the Doctor’s voice. “One of the engine batteries ruptured! It’s contained, but we can’t get in to plug up the leak!”

“Vader, how bad is the radiation in the batteries?” I asked.

“It’s enough to kill anyone, even beings like me, in 10 minutes,” explained Vader.

“Oh boy,” I sighed. “Try to find another way to plug up the leak and filter out the radiation, Doctor. I’m still locked on trying to get the ship under control.”

“On it!” called the Doctor.

“Sir, now really,” snarled the Brigadier to the intruder. “Can’t we just get connected?” He extended a probe and jammed it into the PO Robot’s head. The intruder didn’t like that, so he sent electricity down the probe and shocked the Brigadier.

“Alistair!” I called.

“I’m fine,” assured the Brigadier, “though, I think my systems are damaged. We need more power, like, more power than Rath has!” Rath got an idea.

“LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN’ SIR BRIGADIER ALISTAIR GORDON LETHBRIDGE-STEWART, FOUNDING CYBERMAN OF THE UNITED NEBULAR INTELLIGENCE TASK-FORCE, THAT’S A GREAT IDEA! THERE’S A TIME TO GO HERO, AND THERE’S A TIME TO GO ULTIMATE!” Rath turned the Ultimatrix rig key and slapped the Omnitrix symbol down. He got bigger, his fur went a darker shade of orange, he gained claws on each finger and another claw on each wrist, and his mane looked a lot like Wolverine from Marvel Comics. He had a vest that looked like it had green cat’s eyes and new pants. “ULTIMATE RATH!” he roared. He then looked himself over. “Cool! Wait, I’m keeping a level head? That’s all I ask for when I turn into Rath!”

“I guess Evolved Appoplexians get a cooler head in millions of years of worse case scenarios,” I mused.

“Nice!” cheered Ultimate Rath. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to kick a ghost in a robot’s rear!” Ultimate Rath then charged on all fours at the intruder. He leapt onto him and decked him. The intruder’s robot body sparked and went offline. “That was for Rath’s pants!” roared Ultimate Rath. The Omnitrix symbol then started flashing red. “And this is a perfect time to power down,” chuckled Ultimate Rath, “now that the threat is over.” The Omnitrix beeped and then Ultimate Rath shrunk down to Rath, then went back to Ben.

“Just so you know,” I criticized, “we were shaking like Jell-O when you fought as Ultimate Rath.”

“Sorry, I never used Ultimate Rath before,” answered Ben with a sheepish grin. The Comms then beeped.

“Go ahead,” I called.

“The leak has been sealed,” reported the Doctor.

“All right!” I cheered. “How did you guys do it?”

“We didn’t,” answered Azmuth. “Rusty did. Manually. In the infected zone.”

“…But…the radiation…” I stammered.

“Megumi, you need to get to Engineering, NOW!” called Kämpfer. A worst case scenario entered my mind.

“Guys, MOVE!” I shouted. We ran to Engineering. When we entered, there was a transparent wall with us on one side and Rusty on the other. The Brigadier and I rushed to the wall, but Lukas and the Doctor held us back.

“Get out of the way, Doctor!” demanded the Brigadier.

“You can’t go in!” argued the Doctor.

“But, the radiation! He’ll die!” cried the Brigadier.

“Brigadier! Sir! ALISTAIR!” snapped the Doctor. The Brigadier and I stopped struggling. “He’s already too far gone.” They released us, allowing us to walk over to the infected zone. Rusty wasn’t twitching as much. His dome swiveled slowly as the eye was getting dimmer. He then rotated his body slowly.

“Let…me…see…you…” he croaked. “The…real…you…” Rusty’s casing then opened, slowly. His real self was looking a sickly brown as his eye was opened slowly. I cancelled my transformation as the Brigadier opened his helmet. “Do…not…grieve,” said Rusty weakly. “I did…what was…needed.”

“Rusty, there was a plethora of droids!” I cried, tears coming down my face. “They didn’t have organic components!”

“They…did not…have…the needed…skill…” wheezed Rusty. One of his tentacles touched the glass. The Brigadier put his hand up to it. “Alistair…” he continued, “I…hope…this…banishes…any doubt…you held…about…me…”

“Any doubt I had was banished ages ago, old chap,” mumbled the Brigadier. “You’ve become more than a Dalek. You’ve become my friend.” There was a few seconds silence.

“I…am in…pain…” reported. Rusty. I moved to speak, but Rusty cut me off. “This…is fine. …I…will die…so you…may live. …But…before…I die…I’m glad…I met…you…”

“Rusty, we can help!” I wailed.

“No…you…cannot…” countered Rusty. “…I…die…for a good…cause. …The needs…of the many…outweigh…the needs…of the few…as Spock…would…put it. …Good…bye…my friends.” Rusty’s real eye closed, his true limbs drooped as well as his shell’s limbs, and his eyestalk stopped glowing once it went down. Rusty, the friendly Dalek…was dead.

* * *

The Brigadier was transmitted Rusty’s last wish from a backup computer in his shell. Rusty wanted his real body to be taken out of the shell and fired into a star, to symbolize his rebirth from normal Dalek soldier to our friend. When the radiation levels were acceptable, we got Rusty out and decontaminated his body. We preserved him for a while so we could set up his funeral. It took place in the Gateway room and we all wore dark clothing. Batman had gotten out of his Bat suit and put on normal funeral clothes, putting on the persona of Bruce Wayne. He even dropped the raspy voice he uses as Batman. The Brigadier had his armor painted black. Someone knocked on my door. “Yes?” I asked, a little shaky as Okaa-san laced me up.

“Megumi, dear, it’s time,” whispered Death.

“On my way,” I mumbled. Okaa-san followed me, her hand on my shoulder to reassure me. Soon, we arrived. A track with a little coffin on our end and the controls behind the coffin rested. It was open casket, so we could see Rusty’s real self. Two of his tentacles were resting as a corpse’s hands would, clasped together, and his eye was closed. I took my place at the controls. Okaa-san was behind me as well as Hiroki. Hongo and Wyldstyle were on my left while Bruce and Gandalf were on my right. “Minna-san,” I began, “today, we gather to honor the death of a friend, Rusty the Dalek. Before an encounter with his people’s greatest enemy, the Doctor, Rusty’s ship was attacked and destroyed. He survived, but with damage. That damage allowed him to see a star being born and see what a beautiful thing life is. During an encounter with the Doctor, he joined the humans and made a name for himself. Over time, he became friends with Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Then, both he and the newly-christened Brigadier joined us and became our allies, helping us when needed. He gave his life so we may continue the fight against Lord Vortech. I, for one, will fight in his name, as I know you all will. I must say, out of all the souls I met in the multiverse, his was the most…diverse.” I nodded to Mr. Saunders.

“Present…ARMS!” he barked. Everybody raised a weapon in salute. I then pressed a button on the controls and Rusty’s coffin moved. It went slowly to allow us to say goodbye. Soon, it left the rail from Vorton and floated to one of the stars, where his body was consumed to make new fuel for that star. Rusty was returned to cosmic shores.

“I will not say ‘do not weep’,” said Gandalf softly, “for not all tears are an evil.” As we departed, Emily and Okaa-san joined me in my quarters. We sat on my bed. At that point, I let myself cry uncontrollably. I was embraced by Emily and sobbed as she held my trembling frame. Okaa-san held us both. We all wept for Rusty. Emily then saw something and directed me to look on my dresser. Azmuth was standing there.

“I am…sorry you’re going through this,” he whispered. “From what you said, Rusty had evolved beyond the hatred that was bred into his species.” I sniffed before answering.

“Yes,” I mumbled. “Personally, I think he would have been a worthy host of the Omnitrix.”

“Very much so,” agreed Azmuth.

“Azmuth,” called Emily as she dried her eyes, “as long you’re here, I have a question.”

“Go ahead,” replied Azmuth.

“Ben had the Omnitrix taken from him when he was in _Jurassic World_ ,” recalled Emily. “After it got itself off the thief, I was its new host for a while. When I had it, I couldn’t access my belt’s powers or suit. Could the Omnitrix have blocked that somehow?”

“I’m not sure,” answered Azmuth. “The Omnitrix never did that before. I’ll look into it when I get back.”

“Okay,” I mumbled. Azmuth departed.

“Do you need anything?” asked Emily.

“I just need to be alone for a bit,” I whimpered.

“Okay,” sighed Emily. She and Okaa-san left as I laid on the bed. For the first time, I felt my own mortality, and the mortality of my friends. I laid still for a while.

“…Rusty,” sang a woman’s voice.

“AUGH!” I screamed in surprise as I tumbled off my bed.

“AUGH!” screamed the woman.

“AUGH!” I screamed as I picked myself up.

“AUGH!” screamed the woman.

“AUGH!” I screamed.

“AUGH!” screamed the woman.

“…AUGH!” I screamed.

“AUGH!” screamed the woman. “WHY ARE WE SCREAMING ‘AUGH’ OVER AND OVER?!”

“DOCTOR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” I shouted.

“Rusty never got a good tribute song!” replied the Doctor.

“Get the hell out of my room and let me grieve in peace!” I snarled, the anger I thought I had gotten over was coming back.

“Rusty needs a song!” protested the Doctor. “He needs to be immortalized somehow!”

“I heard screaming!” whispered a voice. It was Death.

“I was screaming at the Doctor,” I replied. “Doctor, if I let you sing a tribute to Rusty, will you let me be?!”

“Of course,” assured the Doctor. I sat down, and the Doctor sang to the tune of _Amazing Grace_.

_Rusty, Rusty,_

_How great was he,_

_That saved people_

_Like thee?_

_I never thought,_

_I would find heart,_

_But, a heart, I see,_

_In Rusty!_

The Doctor finished. “Wasn’t that lovely?” she asked. I just glared at her. “My work is done.” The Doctor entered the TARDIS and departed.

“I should go, as well,” whispered Death.

“Death, wait,” I called.

“Hm?” hummed Death.

“I know that you and the Apocalypse Riders will see him,” I began, “but, do you think we mortals will see him again?”

“He IS dead,” whispered Death, “and no one can cure it, so…”

“But, is there hope?” I asked.

“There never was,” whispered Death, “just a fool’s hope.”

“…I guess,” I sighed.

“I’ll let you be,” whispered Death. “We shall meet again, before the end.”

“…Bye…” I mumbled. Death left and I got ready for bed. We had already had dinner, so I just brushed my teeth, put on my nightgown, and got into bed. “…Goodbye, Rusty,” I mumbled. “Thank you.”


	48. Chapter 48

We gathered in the Gateway room. X-PO was doing his Rider chance, but I could tell he wasn’t into it, despite the music going on. “And today’s riders are…” X-PO began. The hands spun and landed on… “Hiroki!”

“All right!” said Hiroki.

“...and Livia!” announced X-PO.

“Yes!” called Livia. They took their places.

“Away we go!” I declared. “For Rusty!”

“FOR RUSTY!” everyone said. We charged into the portal and traveled to a lunar landscape with a base and…what the? The whole place was pixilated! We were in 8-bit! Gandalf’s mouth moved, but random noise came out. A text box appeared beneath him.

“What is this place?” read the text box. Wyldstyle tried to speak but was met with the same noise. Another text box appeared.

“And what happened to your voice?” read the new text box. I made the same noise as I moved my mouth and another text box appeared.

“Er, guys,” it read, “I think the noise is us speaking and the text boxes are translating for us.”

“What kind of place would do this?” read a text box for Hiroki’s noise.

“I don’t know,” replied Batman’s text box.

“DUCK!” called Wyldstyle. A green saucer nearly swiped us! Something shot it and Gandalf cast a shield to defend us from the…pixels. A pair of green tripods with yellow centers and eyes flew above us, but something shot them. Once the shooting stopped, Gandalf lowered his shield. Wyldstyle picked up one of the pixels from the saucer.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” I muttered. “It’s almost like…like we’re in a video game.” The pixel faded.

“…That is the single most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” rasped Batman. Wyldstyle then felt a buzz in her pocket. She pulled out her scanner and used it on a bronze pixel floating above the base that hadn’t faded.

“I’ll tell you what I DO know, though,” she called. “THAT’S the Foundation Element!” Another saucer grabbed it.

“So, how do we get it?” asked Batman.

“Well,” muttered Hiroki, “if this IS a video game, then we play!”

“I know what game we’re in!!” cheered Livia. “This is _Defender_! It’s a horizontally scrolling shoot ‘em up where you control a fighter ship and defend this world from waves of invading aliens while saving astronauts!” We then heard a banging on the door from the base behind us. We turned to see a young man in a doctor’s uniform banging on the door. He had some fancy stethoscope hanging from his neck. Hiroki’s eyes went wide.

“Hōjō Emu!” he yelped.

“Let me guess, another Rider?” I asked.

“He’s the title Rider of _Kamen Rider Ex-Aid_!” explained Hiroki. “We gotta get him out!”

“There’s a vent here,” observed Hongo. “Scale Keystone, activate! Lessen Scale of Hiroki!” Hiroki crawled into the vent and ended up on the other side. “Normalize Scale of Hiroki!” said Hongo. Hiroki pressed a button and released himself and Emu.

“Thank you, everyone!” called Emu’s text box. “I was busy with hospital work one minute, then a blue hole opened beneath me and I was trapped here! Thank goodness I still have my Gamer Driver.”

“We need to help other people to get that pixel down,” I told Emu. “Will you help?”

“Of course!” replied Emu. We headed to the right and found some poor guy surrounded by fire.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Hongo!” Hongo was surrounded in a blue aura and doused the fire. The person was…oh, good grief! It was a fat, short guy with a black moustache and red clothing with blue overalls! His hat was red and had a white circle with a red ‘M’ on the front. Emu goggled.

“Jumpman?!” he called. “I think there’s a Gashat based on the original game he was in!”

“Jumpman?” asked the man we rescued. “Haven’t-a been called-a that in a while.” Livia twitched.

“I forgot how cringy your accent is!” she gulped.

“I’ll-a have you know I’m a real Italian!” snapped the man. Livia and the man argued in agitated Italian.

“If you please!” I protested.

“You said you weren’t called Jumpman in a while,” interjected Batman. “What’s your name?” We all goggled at Batman.

“You never played the _Super Mario_ series when you were a kid?” I yelped.

“Oh, yeah,” remembered Emu. “You changed your name a while ago. Mario, is it?”

“It’s-a me, Mario!” said Nintendo’s mascot.

“What are you doing in _Defender_?” asked Hiroki.

“I-a don’t know,” muttered Mario. “One minute, I was-a having a picnic with-a Peach. Then, we get-a sucked in here!”

“Peach is here too?!” I called.

“Is this-a Bowser’s plan?” asked Mario.

“No, someone above him,” I answered.

“Not another god-a-like being!” moaned Mario.

“HEY!” shouted a voice. It was coming from another base. “Get away from me!” said another video game mascot. It was a blue creature with red sneakers, white gloves, green, connected eyes, and a black nose.

“SONIC!” called Mario. “Hold on! I’ll-a save you!”

“Allow me!” offered Gandalf. He used his magic to make the attacking creature explode. The pixels vanished.

“Hey, thanks!” called Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Sonic, what are you-a doing here?!” asked Mario.

“Mario! Hey, buddy!” greeted Sonic. “I was just stomping Eggman, as usual, and then a portal opened beneath me. I don’t know what Egg-breath’s up to, but…”

“This isn’t Eggman’s doing,” I answered.

“Help me!” called another voice. It was a petite woman’s voice.

“Isn’t that Peach’s voice?” asked Sonic.

“There she is!” answered Mario as he pointed to the voice’s source. A blonde woman in a pink dress was trapped by machinery.

“Mario!” called the woman. “Help me!”

“I-a got you!” replied Mario as he leapt onto the machine. The attack didn’t do much good.

“Let me do it!” called Emu. “I’ll change Princess Peach’s fate with my own hands!” He then brought out a pink trinket, a Gashat, like Dr. Kagami used. He pressed the activation button.

“MIGHTY ACTION X!” shouted the Gashat. The game’s start screen appeared as blocks looking like chocolate squares came in.

“Henshin!” announced Emu as he put the Gashat into the Gamer Driver.

“GASHATTO!” called the Driver. “Let’s game! Meccha Game! Mucha Game! What’s your name?! I’m a Kamen Rider!” Emu became Ex-Aid and…BWA HA HA HA! Irina was right! Level 1 Gamer Riders look absurd. While Brave had a knight’s theme going, Ex-Aid had spiky, pink hair and a clear visor! Ex-Aid jumped up on the blocks and then on the machine but met with the same results as Mario.

“Okay,” he muttered, “that might have been a bout of clinical insanity.”

“I’ve got an idea,” I called. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate Rift detection!” I found it a few feet from the machine. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Locate help from 8-4-C-K-T-0-T-H-3-F-U-T-U-R-3!” Just then, the DeLorean flew through the rift!

“Great Scott!” shouted the driver. The Time Machine smashed through the machine and freed Peach. It then vanished.

“I thought…the Flux…” I muttered.

“The one Vortech has was from the Time Train, remember?” reminded Hiroki.

“Oh, right, right,” I said.

“Thank you!” said Peach.

“HELP!” yelled a man. An alien was carrying him. He had wavy hair, pixel style pants, and a jacket.

“PARADO!” called Ex-Aid. “Dai Henshin!” He then opened his Gamer Driver.

“GACHĀN! LEVEL UP!” announced the belt. He jumped into the air, kicked, then his armor flew off and his level 1 head became a backpack. “Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” Wow, his suit was pink! He still had the health bar on his chest as he leapt up to get Parado. The alien kept him out of reach. I then saw a seedling.

“Gandalf!” I called.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of earth, Emu!”

“Ex-Aid!” corrected Ex-Aid. He was surrounded in a green aura. “What am I supposed to do with this?!”

“Point your hands at the seedling!” I instructed. Ex-Aid did so. He made a giant hand grow and flick the alien away. It dropped Parado as Ex-Aid caught him. Parado looked up. He then gave an impish grin.

“My hero!” he joked. He then kissed Ex-Aid.

“Oh, YUCK!” protested Ex-Aid as he dropped Parado. “Must you?!”

“Well, must you drop me, Emu?” laughed Parado as he picked himself up. He then saw us. “Who are you?”

“Your enemies, that’s who!” declared Hiroki. “Henshin!” He then rushed at Parado, who dodged and gave another grin.

“My turn,” he chuckled. He drew out what looked like two Gashats pressed together with a yellow dial on the front and different labels for games on them. He turned the dial to the left so one label was down.

“PERFECT PUZZLE!” announced the strange Gashat. It then gave weird techno music as it looped on “What’s the next stage?”

“Henshin!” called Parado. He pressed a button on the Gashat.

“Dual up!” it announced. An image of a suit popped up. The suit was pixelated black and white. The armor had a gold chest piece with puzzle pieces in the center, blue shoulder pads, and a blue helmet with a gold turtleneck attachment around the neck. “Get the glory in the chain! PERFECT PUZZLE!” The image went over Parado and he was IN the suit. He put the Gashat into a holder on his right hip.

“Kamen Rider Para-DX,” (pronounced like paradox) introduced Parado. “Level 50!” He then charged at Sengoku. Sengoku raised his katana and swung but missed. “Missed me!” taunted Para-DX.

“I won’t this time, Bugster!” declared Sengoku.

“Yameru!” (Stop!) called Ex-Aid. He then summoned a large hammer with an A and B button.

“GASHACON BREAKER!” announced the weapon. Ex-Aid pressed the B button. “Ja Kīn!” (sound effect for sword being drawn) called the weapon as a pink sword blade folded out and stopped Sengoku’s katana.

“Ex-Aid, the Americans have a saying for people like you,” hissed Sengoku. “Want to know what it is?”

“What is it?” asked Ex-Aid.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GOURD?!” shouted Sengoku. “That’s Para-DX! A Bugster! Your enemy!”

“Not anymore!” argued Ex-Aid. Sengoku’s sword stopped moving against Ex-Aid’s.

“What?” asked Sengoku.

“We beat Kamen Rider Cronus,” explained Ex-Aid as he relaxed his weapon. “Parado started to regret causing humans to suffer game disease and so joined CR. For a while, after we made a Gamedeus vaccine, he used it on himself as well as Poppy. Together, we beat Cronus! There’s still a need for us, but the game disease outbreak is taken care of.” Sengoku’s eyes went wide.

“Are you telling me…” he gulped.

“Yep, there’s a new Rider carrying on the fight,” confirmed Ex-Aid. “I think he's called Build.” Sengoku twitched.

“……… _KAMEN RIDER EX-AID_ ’S OVER AND I MISSED IT?! NNNOOOOOO!” Sengoku screamed a scream only fans could reach.

“So, you’re our friend?” I asked Para-DX.

“If you want to call us that,” he said as he cancelled his transformation. Ex-Aid and Sengoku did the same.

“Why don’t we start over?” I suggested. “I’m Queen Megumi Hishikawa of the Vortex Riders. The one who tried to carve out Parado’s flesh is my brother, Prince Hiroki, a major _Kamen Rider_ fanboy.”

“Hello,” he mumbled.

“This is Lady Livia Acqua, a fan of retro games like this one,” I continued.

“Hello!” she said pleasantly.

“This is Batman, the World’s Greatest Detective,” I went on.

“Hi,” grunted Batman.

“This is Gandalf of the Istari,” I introduced.

“Greetings!” called Gandalf.

“This is Wyldstyle, the Master Builder,” I went on.

“Hi!” greeted Wyldstyle.

“This is Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega’s mascot,” I continued.

“Yo! What’s up!” called Sonic.

“This is Mario, Nintendo’s Mascot,” I went on.

“It’s-a me! Mario!” cheered Mario

“This is Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom,” I continued.

“Good day!” called Peach.

“And, this is Takeshi Hongo, the first Kamen Rider,” I finished.

“Hello, young Emu,” greeted Hongo.

“I’m Hōjō Emu, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and Genius Gamer M,” introduced Emu.

“And I’m Parado, the one that helps Emu as Genius Gamer M,” continued Parado. All of a sudden, we heard victory music!

“GAME CLEAR!” announced a voice. We then looked up to see an image of a number 5 covered by a checkmark! But, the saucer still had the pixel!

“I’m done playing!” snapped Batman as he got a batarang ready. He then tossed it at the saucer, a mistake, in hindsight. The saucer fired on us as Gandalf cast a shield. It kept hammering us with laser fire!

“I…can’t…keep this…up!” strained Gandalf. All of a sudden, a rocket came by and fired on the saucer.

“That’s the rocket the player controls!” called Livia.

“We really ARE in _Defender_!” cheered Ex-Aid.

“You’ve played this game?” I asked.

“I’ve played a lot of games,” replied Ex-Aid. The rocket then turned the saucer into pixels. The bronze pixel floated down.

“Game over,” rasped Batman. We went to get the pixel, but a portal opened and deposited a person in blue thief robes.

“Who’s that?” asked Gandalf. The person then took the pixel and laughed!

“HEY!” shouted Wyldstyle. We followed him into another portal. We ended up in a labyrinth with items littering the place. Our sprites looked like 16-bit ones.

“This is new,” mused Peach. She then saw someone! The thief!

“You there! Stop, thief!” called Gandalf. The thief just laughed.

“You can’t catch me!” boasted the thief. He ran off!

“You wanna bet?!” snapped Batman.

“Friends can join in any time!” called a voice. Livia’s eyes went wide.

“We’re in _Gauntlet_!” she realized. “No wonder the thief looked so familiar! I thought he only stole potions.”

“ _Gauntlet_?” asked Emu. “The hack-and-slash fantasy game? I never got the chance to play it!”

“Well, now we’re in it,” mused Sonic.

“Let’s-a go!” called Mario.

“Mario! Hold on!” warned Livia. Mario stopped and turned. “ _Gauntlet_ has enemies out the wazoo. We need to be ready.” Hongo then got into his pose as we got our i.d tags out.

“Rider…” began Hongo. I then heard “MIGHTY ACTION X!” and “PERFECT PUZZLE! What’s the next stage?”

“HENSHIN!” we all called.

“GASHATTO!” announced Emu’s Gashat. He then opened the Gamer Driver. “GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!”

“Dual up!” called Parado’s Gashat. “Get the glory in the chain! PERFECT PUZZLE!” We got ready for a fight and charged. I heard spin dashes and saw Sonic running circles around the enemies.

“Hey! HEY! Slow it down-a, Sonic!” protested Mario.

“No way, squeaky!” joked Sonic. “This is how the professionals do it!”

“SQUEAKY?!” snapped Mario as he jumped on a goblin and got a key. “It’s-a my trademark voice! Something you don’t have, given that your-a voice actors changed over the years! That’s-a why I’m always the one saving Peach!”

“It’s also the reason why you don’t talk in any of your games!” argued Sonic.

“Hm, pretty strong words, coming from-a the pincushion with a psycho fangirl and the angriest fanbase!” mused Mario.

“Well, it beats being a falsetto squawking midget!” laughed Sonic.

“OH YEAH?!” snapped Mario as he grabbed Sonic and headbutted him.

“Dude, Smash moves?! Really?!” protested Sonic.

“Can we do this later?!” snapped Ex-Aid as he smacked enemies aside. We made it to the exit, but a portal opened and we were in another labyrinth. We fought our way through it and collected keys. Gandalf found an exit sign. I then got an idea.

“Guys, we can use this to get to the thief!” I called. We used the exit, went through another labyrinth and used that exit to arrive near the thief! He took off, but we cornered him. Then…another rift opened beneath us. …This is gonna take some getting used to.


	49. Chapter 49

The portal opened in the sky and we landed with a thud! Ex-Aid landed on his head. “Itai!” (Ow!) he winced as picked himself up and massaged his head. We examined our surroundings.

“A race track?” muttered Wyldstyle. Three race cars zoomed by.

“Goodness!” called Gandalf. “They’re even faster than Wargs!”

“Move!” shouted Batman as the cars came around for another lap. He shoved us out of the way while he got ready to jump on the car being driven by the thief. The thief got out of the way as the flag indicated the end of the race.

“Players must beat record lap to win Gold Token,” said an announcer. One of the cars separated it’s rear and folded it down. The sides split away and let hands pop loose. The front flipped up and rotated to become a backpack and allowed a blue head with a purple helmet to pop out. This was Drag-Strip of the Stunticons, and he was mad!

“HOW CAN A FLESHLING BEAT ME?!” he shouted. The last car opened. It was done up in a European driver’s style with the driver on the right side of the car. The driver was a guy in a red suit done up like a race car and he had a tire going from the left shoulder to the right side. His helmet was like a Kamen Rider. The passenger was a pink-haired woman in a yellow outfit and skirt with pixels, buttons, and yellow petticoats. She wore a headpiece on the right side of her head that looked like a green speaker with a yellow pixel note with a green outline on it. She was arguing with the mystery Kamen Rider, er, Driver.

“Drive-san!” called Sengoku.

“Poppy!” cried Ex-Aid. The two people stopped arguing. The woman, Poppy, ran up to Ex-Aid and hugged him. The Kamen Driver, Drive, looked at Sengoku.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Hishikawa Hiroki,” introduced Sengoku as he used the Japanese name order, “Kamen Rider Sengoku! I can’t believe I’m talking to Tomari Shinnosuke, Kamen Rider Drive!”

“Kamen Rider?” I asked.

“What?” quizzed Drive.

“You have a car,” I observed.

“Well, you ride cars,” argued Drive.

“Yeah, but I just saw you come out of the driver’s seat,” I reminded.

“And being a stupid driver at that!” snapped Poppy. Drive turned on her.

“You were being a backseat driver!” argued Drive.

“I was in the passenger’s seat!” snarled Poppy.

“You still gave advice that I didn’t ask for!” shouted Drive.

“This is why I don’t drive, usually,” said Sonic to Mario.

“I can-a understand,” assured Mario.

“There’s only one problem here,” snarled Drag-Strip, “and it’s you fleshlings! I can’t win with you idiots harassing me!”

“We’re trying to win here!” roared Drive.

“I’M the only winner here!” argued Drag-Strip. “That walking fashion disaster said that this was a racing game called _Super Sprint_ and racing is my thing! Now, step aside and let me win!”

“Might I interject?” asked Clash as she cancelled her transformation. Everyone turned to her.

“WHAT NOW?!” roared Drag-Strip. “What does a fish-lady know about this?!”

“Mermaid,” corrected Livia. Before Drag-Strip shrugged her off, Livia continued. “Look, our team needs that token the thief has. You guys want to beat his best time, if not win. I’m an expert at this game and I did some real racing.” That statement surprised me. “I’ve got an idea, but it needs teamwork and, Signore…er…”

“Drag-Strip,” introduced the Stunticon.

“Signore Drag-Strip, I’m gonna need to take the wheel as you seem to have forgotten some of the most important aspects of racing,” continued Livia.

“What are you talking about?!” snarled Drag-Strip. “I’m the fastest racer around!”

“What about split second decisions?” asked Livia. “What about maneuverability? What about knowing when to slam the brakes on? These are important too.” Drag-Strip’s visor flickered.

“What do you mean know when to slam the brakes on?!” he yelped. “It’s a race! You can’t put them on!”

“Let me take the wheel and I’ll show you what I mean,” offered Livia. “Besides, I can help you win. When you do, you don’t even need to give me credit.” Drag-Strip considered her words, then sighed and transformed.

“You better not screw me up!” he threatened. Livia took her hair flower and veil off, entered Drag-Strip, and set them on Drag-Strip’s floor as she buckled up.

“I’m surprised Decepticons have seat belts,” I mused.

“They’re useful for keeping prisoners,” chuckled Drag-Strip darkly.

“Charming,” snarked Livia. Drag-Strip was at the start line.

“Poppy, do you mind staying in the stands with us?” I asked.

“Why?!” wailed Poppy.

“You’re not an expert at racing games,” replied Para-DX. “Drive doesn’t need another annoyance.” Poppy gasped. She then looked down.

“…Pupepopasulk!” she mumbled.

“Parado!” protested Ex-Aid. He then went to Poppy. “Poppy, we can cheer them on together. It will help them win. Want to help?” Poppy looked up, then smiled.

“Right!” she declared. She then went to the stands with us as we cancelled our transformations aside from Drive as he moved his car to the start. The thief did so as well. The racers were ready.

“Not all players are ready,” called the announcer. Just then, I noticed Batman talking to Hiroki and Hiroki put the Batmobile at the start. Batman got in.

“Let’s drive,” he rasped.

* * *

This is it! I can’t wait! My ride grumbled. “I hate this. I hate this! I hate THIS! I HATE THIS!”

“Silenzio!” (Be quiet) I hissed. “We’ll take first place.” I released the brake a bit, causing Drag-Strip to move forward a centimeter. The thief flinched. Drive gave the hand motion that he was watching me. Batman did nothing.

“3! 2! 1! GO!” called the announcer. I hit the gas, then braked to turn right via drifting. The straightaway had a puddle near the end, so I drifted right again near the edge, making a complete 180 on the turn and went up the next straightaway, then drifted left 45 degrees. I then drifted right after the straightaway and gunned Drag-Strip’s engine, then drifted right again and crossed the finish first. This went on for the next two laps. Soon, we finished in 1st! The thief, 3rd place, slammed his hand on the wheel, Drive was in second and handled his place more gracefully, and Batman was dead last. The Dark Knight brooded about it.

“What kind of crazy turning was that?!” asked Drag-Strip.

“Drifting,” I explained. “I intentionally oversteered, making you lose traction in your rear wheels, but still maintained control over you. That’s what I meant when I said to know when to slam on the brakes.” Drag-Strip hmmed to himself.

“We went through four tracks with the thief,” he revealed. “A couple more times, then I’ll see how well I drift on the track after that.

“Another track?!” protested Batman as the track changed. “Give me a break here!” I took the wheel again and we waited for the countdown. This one had a lot more turns.

“3! 2! 1! GO!” called the announcer. We took off. I limited my drifting as there were too many turns, but we got 1st again as we dodged puddles and oil patches. We waited for the track to change again. It was short with shortcuts and a wiggly path. I got my hands off the wheel as I leaned back.

“Aren’t you gonna drive?” asked Drag-Strip.

“Call this a mid-term test,” I replied. “I want to see how you drive with a passenger.”

“…All right,” he muttered. The race began again, and we took off. On the first lap, Drag-Strip didn’t use the shortcuts. “That was more trouble than it was worth,” he explained. He took them on the second lap and finished in first without shortcuts. The track changed and I got out. I put my hair flower and veil back on.

“Now, it’s all you,” I called. “Good luck.” Drag-Strip was ready.

“We’ve got to win that token soon,” muttered Hiroki.

“Hush,” I hissed. “Drag-Strip’s got it.”

“3! 2! 1! GO!” called the announcer. The track had an over pass after a turn. Drag-Strip went with normal steering while Batman and the thief tried to drift. That’s a mistake. Drive was right on Drag-Strip’s bumper. Drag-Strip kept his head and drifted right to avoid a puddle. He dodged a tornado as Drive spun out. He went under the overpass and turned onto the parallel track. He then turned left and went down another parallel to the finish line. This went on until the end of the race.

* * *

We cheered Drag-Strip’s victory. “WOO!” cheered Wyldstyle. “Nice driving!”

“Those other cars didn’t stand a chance!” called Batman.

“Shall we claim our prize, teach?” asked Drag-Strip to Livia.

“Now THAT’S how you win,” replied Livia. We headed to the winner’s circle when Wyldstyle noticed something.

“Why isn’t the thief’s car here?” she asked.

“Sore loser,” I guessed.

“Are you sure?” asked Hiroki as he pointed somewhere. “Look over there.”

“It’s the thief!” called Sonic as the thief rounded a bend.

“What is he doing?!” yelped Gandalf. He was driving right for us! He drove up the Batmobile and jumped out of the car, grabbing the token!

“NO!” called Mario as a portal opened behind the thief. Batman fired his grapple gun, but it came up short as the thief went through the portal!

“Oh, COME ON!” snarled Batman. We all went into the portal and ended up on some sort of black background as if there was no up. We were still 2-D and surrounded by enemies.

“Oh brother, we’re in _Robotron: 2084_ ,” gulped Livia. “A 2-D shoot ‘em up where the player must fight robots that rebelled against humanity.

“So, what do we do?” asked Gandalf.

“This!” hissed Batman as he got ready. We got ready to fight. “I’m tired of chasing! No more Mister Nice Bat!” declared the Dark Knight. We fought off the hordes and got ready for the next wave. The enemies then included one we saw before.

“Cybermen active!” called the enemies.

“Cybermen?!” yelped Hiroki.

“Bad guys?” guessed Emu.

“Yes, now fight!” I replied. We took care of that wave.

“If this is a game,” mused Parado, “it seems like something is going wrong.” The third wave had more enemies, Lex-bots, Orcs, …Winkies?!

“Wait a minute!!” I yelped. “I don’t understand! We freed you guys!”

“You robbed us of our power!” roared a Winkie as his halberd swung at me. I decked him and he faded into pixels. The last wave had the thief! We all made our assault and he fell in half while dropping the token. Suddenly, I felt myself balloon outward. I looked myself…SWEET 3-D BODY, HOW I MISSED YOU! We were all 3-D again and I could see that Emu, Parado, and Poppy were of Japanese descent. I picked myself up and headed for the token, when a large purple hand swiped it up. I looked up to see Drag-Strip smirking.

“Er, what are you doing?” I asked. “We won the games and can share the trophy!”

“I suppose I must thank you, fleshlings,” chuckled Drag-Strip as I heard large footsteps. That’s when more Transformers stomped into view. One of them looked like a grey Optimus with a square-like helmet. The second was a red bot with a purple visor and face guard in a dour expression. He looked like he transformed into a sports car and was busy polishing himself. The third was white and blue with a panicked expression on his orange face. The fourth was black and had a crazed expression. “There you are!” said Drag-Strip. He went from last to first. “Wildrider! Breakdown! Dead End! And, last, but not least, Motormaster! I finally figured it out!”

“What?” snarled Motormaster.

“What Menasor’s problem is,” explained Drag-Strip. “We aren’t utilizing our strengths when we form him. Motormaster obviously has superior strength, so needs to be Menasor’s torso. Wildrider can hit fast and Menasor is right-handed. Dead End can defend well and Menasor uses his left hand to defend himself. Breakdown can catch up to me in terms of speed and is an excellent left kicker, perfect for Menasor. I can provide the speed needed to run as Menasor’s right leg.”

“You think this combo will work?” snarled Motormaster.

“Beyond the shadow of a doubt,” assured Drag-Strip.

“Then, let’s try it,” growled Motormaster. “Stunticons, form Menasor as Drag-Strip suggested.” They transformed into vehicle mode, then feet sprouted from Drag-Strip and Breakdown’s rears as they stood on those feet. Motormaster lowered his rear wheels and split them to form legs. His cab split and formed sockets. Wildrider and Dead End split down the separation between front and back seats and extended to become joints as hands came out of their rears. They flew up and joined in the order Drag-Strip suggested and a large head with a helmet sporting two black horns came up. The gestalt slammed its fists together and roared to the heavens. It then stood still, then started laughing.

“Well,” boomed the gestalt, “what do you know? There IS a benefit in teamwork.”

“Oh no,” I sighed. “You got complete mental control, don’t you, Menasor!?” I said. The gestalt robot grinned.

“The first Decepticon Combiner to achieve total mental synchronization!” he boasted. He turned to Livia. “I must thank you,” he laughed. “If it weren’t for you, my individual components would never have made it as far as they did! And, with the Foundation Element here in our grasp…”

“I should have known you were working for Vortech!” I shouted. “It’s so old, cliché even!”

“This is not a play,” interjected Menasor, “but, you could say it’s the final curtain for you!”

“CURTAIN!!” I howled in laughter. Menasor didn’t take too kindly to that.

“Stop laughing!” he roared. “Don’t you realize your lives are in my servos?!”

“SERVOS!!” I howled again.

“Megumi, I think he wants to kill us!” gulped Poppy.

“But, of all the villains I had to face,” I got out, “it had to be someone with clichés out the wazoo!”

“That’s it!” roared Menasor as he tossed a human-sized hand held device to the thief. The thief grabbed it and held it. It looked like it had a screen in the center, two barrels near a red A button and a chainsaw near a purple B button. The thief pressed the A button and evil music played.

“Baiyō!” (Cultivate!) announced the thief as he put the device on a handle on his right arm.

“INFECTION!” growled the device as he and his legs merged back together with his torso and became a more monstrous version of himself. “Let’s Game! Bad Game! Dead Game! WHAT’S YOUR NAME?! The Bugster!”

“The thief’s a Bugster?!” yelped Hiroki.

“Snatcher,” introduced the thief. “Level 3.”

“I am Menasor, the king of the road!” boomed Menasor.

“Well, if it’s catchphrases, let us get ready,” I declared. Parado and Emu got out their Gashats. Poppy got out a teal version of the device Snatcher used and put it on a buckle on her waist.

“Gachān!” said the device. Poppy then got out a pink Gashat and pressed the button.

“Toki Meki Crisis!” (Heart Beat Crisis) it announced in Poppy’s voice. That sounded like a dating sim.

“MIGHTY ACTION X!” called Emu’s Gashat.

“PERFECT PUZZLE! What’s the next stage?” announced Parado’s Gashat. Shinnosuke turned the ignition key on his speedometer style belt.

“Start your engine!” cheered the belt. Shinnosuke then inserted a small car with its rear undercarriage pointing up.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“HENSHIN!” we called. I.d tags went in, Gashats were inserted, and Shinnosuke’s small car was pushed like a lever.

“GASHATTO!” announced the Gamer Driver before it was opened. “GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!”

“Dual up!” called Parado’s Gashat as it formed the suit. “Get the glory in the chain! PERFECT PUZZLE!”

“Gashatto!” cheered Poppy’s Gashat as she put it into the device at an angle. She then pressed a button above the B button.

“Buggle up!” declared the device. The Gashat spoke again.

“Dreaming Girl! (Wow!) Koi no Simulation! Otome wa itsumo Toki Meki Crisis! (Wow!)” (Dreaming girl! (Wow!) It’s a simulation of love! A girl’s heart is always a Heart Beat Crisis! (Wow!)) sang the Gashat as a suit formed. Poppy’s suit looked more like her normal appearance, but a heart replaced the speaker headpiece and she had blue eyes.

“DRIVE! TYPE: SPEED!” announced Drive’s Belt. A suit appeared out of thin air for Shinnosuke and formed while the tire slammed itself onto him.

“Kamen Rider Clash!” began Clash. “A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“It’s-a me! Mario! How-a high can you-a jump? I can-a go higher!”

“I’m Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog! Gotta go fast to beat me!”

“I’m Peach! I shall clear this battlefield!”

“Kamen Rider Para-DX! Fate is like a puzzle!”

“Kamen Rider Ex-Aid! No Continue de clear shite yaru ze!” (I’ll clear this with No Continues!)

“Kamen Rider Poppy! I shall guide you to defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Drive! Let me take you for a ride!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“No, you’re dead!” roared Menasor. He swung a fist down, but we got out of the way.

“What a lunatic!” I sighed. “Gamer Riders, take care of the Bugster! We’ll handle Menasor!”

“Got it!” called Ex-Aid. He then drew out another Gashat and blew into it like you would with an NES cartridge. He then pressed the activation button.

“GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!” (Clash Robots) it announced. The title screen showed up and a little robot came out. Ex-Aid closed his Gamer Driver.

“Gachon!” called the belt. Ex-Aid then put the new Gashat into a slot on his original Gashat’s left. “GASHATTO!” Ex-Aid then swung his fist in a circle.

“Dai, Dai, DAI HENSHIN!” he cheered as he opened the Driver.

“GACHĀN! LEVEL UP!” announced the Driver. “Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” The little robot then became new armor and gave Ex-Aid a large metal left fist. “A Gacha! Buttobase! Totsugeki! Gekitotsu Punch! Gekitotsu Robots!” (Punch it out! Duke it out! Impact Punch! Clash Robots!) Ex-Aid went on the offensive, but Snatcher dodged repeatedly.

“You can’t catch me!” he boasted. “I’m too fast for you!”

“Where are the Energy Items when you need them?!” moaned Ex-Aid.

“Found them!” called Poppy. The Energy Items were discs with different symbols on them. Ex-Aid took one with a running figure.

“SPEED UP!” announced a voice. Ex-Aid then started running at top speed and punched out Snatcher. He then took out the Gekitotsu Robots Gashat.

“GASHUN!” called the belt. Ex-Aid then put the Gashat into a slot on his left hip. “GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!” (Finishing Move) There was a power-up noise loop as Ex-Aid pressed a button on the slot holder. “GEKITOTSU CRITICAL STRIKE!” Ex-Aid’s fist rocketed towards Snatcher and it hit him, then Ex-Aid slammed his regular fist into the robot fist. Snatcher sparked before exploding and fading into pixels. The Gamer Riders then joined us as we fought Menasor. Good thing too, we weren’t making a dent in him! Drive was knocked aside and landed near me.

“We gotta finish him quickly!” he called. “Or else, we’re gonna run out of gas!”

“I’m trying to come up with something!” I shouted. Sengoku then landed near us.

“Well, come up with something quicker!” he snapped. Peach was smacked out of the sky as she floated towards Menasor.

“That thing is resisting our Smash moves!” called Sonic. “We gotta try something!”

“Come on!” I snarled to myself. “What’s that creature running on?! Super Energon?!”

“What’s normal Energon?” asked Drive.

“The fuel for the Transformers,” I replied. “That’s what their civil war is all about.” I then realized something. “Some processes drain their internal Energon reserves at a quicker pace than usual, like combining.” Then, inspiration hit me, and a new attack beamed into my head.

“Are your brain cells in top gear?” asked Drive.

“Oh, they are!” I called. “Dai Super Charge!” I changed into my final form and gave everyone the excess energy I put out.

“What’s going on?” asked Batman.

“Everyone, get ready to jump high into the air!” I directed. I was met with confusion. “JUST DO IT!” I shouted. We all crouched low.

“Why are we doing this?” asked Clash.

“Menasor’s combined form is taxing on the internal fuel reserves on his individual components,” I explained. “A concentrated attack will make him fall apart.”

“THAT IS…NOT TRUE!” roared Menasor.

“True enough to make you splutter like that!” declared Peach.

“JUMP!” I shouted. We then jumped straight up. “Now, KICK!” I directed. We went in for a flying kick! “RIDER VORTEX BUDDY KICK!” I announced as we hit Menasor. He sparked at his joints and fell apart into his individual Stunticons. They were panting at the loss of Energon.

“We gotta get out of here!” shrieked Breakdown. “They’re gonna kill us!”

“It would be a good idea to get out of here,” sighed Dead End. “What was the point of coming here anyways?”

“For once, I agree with you two,” rumbled Motormaster. “Stunticons, retreat!” They transformed, summoned a portal, and went through. The token, on the other hand, fell out of Drag-Strip. We heard victory music again as the thief returned in his bisected state.

“GAME CLEAR!” announced a voice. I then heard varying “GASHUN’s” all around as the Gamer Riders powered down.

“Nice Drive!” praised Drive’s belt as Drive took his car out of his brace and cancelled his transformation.

“That was a rush!” called Sengoku as he, Clash, and Ichigō cancelled their transformations. I stayed in my transformed state as Batman inched towards the token, glancing around to check for any interruptions. He snatched it up, then got ready for battle again, swinging his batarang around. All that went by was a pixelated tumbleweed.

“All right, let’s get out of this digital nightmare!” hissed Batman.

“I must admit,” mused Gandalf, “I quite liked that one with all the magical monsters. It reminded me of home.” I opened a rift for us and we all headed into it to go back to Vorton.


	50. Chapter 50

“HOW DO THEY KEEP FINDING MY FOUNDATION ELEMENTS?!” roared Lord Vortech as he smacked the Stunticons and Snatcher around. “Every time I send you fools to retrieve one, they’re right behind you!”

“Don’t blame us!” protested Lex. “They obviously have some sort of technology to find them!”

“Oh, but I AM blaming you!” snarled Vortech. “I picked you nitwits because you were the most powerful in your universes! You still allow those idiots to challenge you and defeat you!”

“Not true!” argued Motormaster. I rolled my eyes.

“This whole thing went down with Hiro’s death,” I sighed.

“You think me unaware of that, Ambassador Hell?!” roared Vortech. “That’s why Igura’s out there! But an edge cannot come quickly enough!” He looked among us. “I have to find out how they’ve been doing it, find out where they’re hiding!” His eyes stopped on the image of a Foundation Element as he got an idea. He started laughing. “And I think I know exactly how to do so!”

* * *

We returned to Vorton and presented the token. “Nice job, everybody! Good on the new guys too! Congratulations! And, just think, years ago, that adventure would have cost you one whole quarter!”

“Hey, uh, mind if we stay a bit?” asked Sonic.

“It-a looks like you-a need some help,” observed Mario.

“I can help as well!” called Peach.

“Sounds reasonable!” I mused. “Well, Gamer Riders? Shinnosuke-san?”

“I’m afraid we have to go,” replied Emu. “Poppy has a job as a nurse when she’s not guiding us Gamer Riders and I’m a doctor.”

“I just got hired as head of Genm Corp.’s design department for their games,” answered Parado.

“And I’m a police officer,” remarked Shinnosuke. “We all have jobs that demand our attention.”

“Then, farewell, and I hope to see you in the final battle against Vortech,” I declared. X-PO opened a portal for them and they headed back home.

“Hey, do these mean anything to you?” asked Sonic. “I was collecting them in _Defender_ before that alien trapped me in there.” More studs, whoopee.

“How many?” I asked Vortoranii.

“We’re at 2,697,000 studs now,” she counted.

“Any extradimensional excursions that went on during our hunt for the Foundation Element?” I asked.

“No,” sighed Richard happily. “It’s been pretty quiet.” That was when the alarm sounded.

“PO-Lambda has been detected!” reported X-PO.

“WHAT?!” I yelped. “Why did we detect him again?! He should have left Vorton!”

“All indications are that the intruder never left,” replied X-PO.

“That doesn’t make sense, why would he stay?” muttered Emily.

“We have an opportunity to ask,” I replied. “Emily, Richard, Mr. and Mrs. Saunders, X-PO, you’re with me. Livia, show our new arrivals around. X-PO, where’s PO-Lambda?”

“Still on the _Executor_ ,” reported X-PO. “Kämpfer, Vader, Death, and Apocalypse are searching the ship right now. The lockdown’s still out of commission. We can beam up with the teleporter.”

“Good idea,” I remarked. “Henshin!” I transformed back into Royal. “We need as much power in reserve as we can get.”

“You know, you CAN call us by name,” replied Mrs. Saunders

“Discussion for another time, Mama,” answered Emily. “Henshin!” She became Touché again.

“Henshin!” announced Richard as he turned into Guard. “Mom, Dad, might want to get a firearm. I’m not sold on the stormtroopers’ shooting.”

“Neither am I,” commented Mr. Saun…Fred. “I’m gonna find out why they’re so crappy at it after this is done.” They grabbed rifles and we headed to the teleporter. We beamed to Vader’s location.

“Ah, I see X-PO’s responded to the alarm,” mused Kämpfer. “Good. The intruder is in the repair bay for the droids on this ship.”

“Lead on,” I directed. The ship lurched again! “What’s going on?!” I demanded. Kämpfer took out his tablet and got the sit-rep.

“The ship is accelerating!” he reported. “The intruder has limited control!”

“I thought our technical teams installed the new safeguards,” snarled Vader.

“We did!” protested Kämpfer. “And triple encrypted them! There is no way the intruder should be able to get into the ship’s systems!”

“Well, it’s clearly possible, because he did it!” snapped Apocalypse.

“That’s irrelevant,” I argued. “What’s our heading?”

“Working on it!” assured Kämpfer. “Ah! Got it! ...What?”

“What is it?” I asked.

“We’re just going faster,” reported Kämpfer. “Our orbit is still around Vorton.” I was confused as everyone else.

“We…aren’t leaving?” I asked.

“If I were the toaster-possessing ghost,” replied X-PO, “I would bring the guns around and start shooting stuff!”

“Even then, that’s a waste of power,” commented Fred. “With the shields raised, a Star Destroyer could steamroll through anything in its path and not even scratch the paintjob.”

“Kämpfer, Apocalypse, get to Engineering and see if you can slow us down,” I directed.

“Ja!” confirmed Kämpfer.

“On it!” obliged Apocalypse.

“And if there’s a radiation leak, don’t be a hero!” I called as they headed off.

“Very little risk of that, I can assure you!” replied Kämpfer. They were out of sight.

“Your Majesty,” muttered Guard, “there’s something rotten here, but I can’t put my finger on it!”

“We’ll get our answers from the intruder,” I affirmed. We made it to the Droid Repair bay. “On my signal,” I directed. “Three! Two! One! NOW!” We charged in, making a lot of noise and seeing an Astromech Droid stab PO-Lambda with something. It started screaming and shaking! It then rose up and started putting off a bright light! It then changed into a profile of a human skeleton, then the skeleton went from human to humanoid tiger and back to human again, all while muscle flowed back onto the bones. Organs came back and filled the empty spaces. Skin was restored! Hair grew back! The figure faced us and spoke.

“Sā, Rogue Driver!” it called in a man’s voice. A red vortex opened. A device like my belt flew into the man’s hands. Reality hit me.

“No!” I breathed. “That’s not possible!”

“Oh, but it is!” chuckled the Rogue Driver. “Took you long enough to come back. Let’s get you decent.”

“I agree,” said the man. He then put the Rogue Driver to his waist and it made a belt strap wrap around. Pistols then appeared, one on each side of his waist. Blue pants then flowed over his legs as black boots appeared on his feet. A green shirt materialized on his upper torso and a brown trench coat appeared to cover his body. He unbuttoned the coat and put his hand to the air. A short, flat topped, brown hat appeared and he put it on. “Genomorphic upgrade to host body, successful,” reported a man I hated. “Resurrection, complete!” Death took a sand timer out from her robes. There were Japanese characters on it. 足立ヒロ. They translated to Adachi Hiro, my biological father. The sand was all in the upper bulb. Kamen Rider Rogue was back.

“Guys,” gulped Fred. “The man, he looks like…!”

“He is!” I snarled.

“I am!” replied Hiro.

“How?!” hissed Death. “You blew up in Chima!”

“Only thanks to that twit that ruined everything!” snarled Hiro as he pointed at me. “But, if you must know, I took a page out of someone’s book and turned my soul into living data!”

“Lord Vyce did that to face Linkara!” remembered Guard.

“That tin-plated dictator was nothing,” dismissed Hiro. “While most of my organic material and cybernetics were nothing but ash after I detonated myself, I flew around the multiverse, looking for a way to get a new body! I briefly returned to my home universe and scoured an old base for answers. I had to possess the dead body of a Combatman and go through the files.

“The data I came across showed how to turn a soul into data, so I made the ultimate sacrifice and did so. The data also said that there were ways to make a new body. Project: Ghost Body was where Shocker stored the genetic information and needed cybernetics to make a new body so they could use monsters over and over. I took that data and made numerous attempts to get to Foundation Prime, but I was met with a problem. Vortech was the one who sent me and retrieved me. I didn’t know Foundation Prime’s coordinates. So, I found an old PO robot and possessed it while the events of Touché’s excursion into _Jurassic World_ went on.

“I tried recruiting Heather, but she stupidly brushed me aside. I overheard you wanting to find her, no doubt to get information, so I removed her. I then went to the Ghostbusters’ universe and followed you but altered my exit so I wouldn’t be caught immediately. However, you used the PKE meter to find me, and here we are. Your Dalek is dead and I live.”

“Forgive us if we don’t throw a party,” muttered X-PO.

“Ah, X-PO,” observed Hiro. “You were the one who found Foundation Prime, you will get me back there.”

“I hate to be the bearer of GOOD news,” snarked X-PO, “but Vortech deleted that when you guys fired me!”

“Nonsense!” dismissed Hiro.

“It’s true! That’s another reason why we’ve been getting the Foundation Elements!” insisted X-PO.

“You seriously don’t remember the coordinates of YOUR discovery?!” hissed Hiro, his smirk fading. “Never mind, this vessel will do nicely.”

“If you think I’m going to let you take this ship,” declared Linda, “I have a couple of laser bullets willing to disagree with you!”

“And I’M willing to order Vorton’s destruction!” I snarled. “When it goes, so do our Foundation Elements!”

“You’d never dare!” challenged Hiro.

“Dai Super Charge,” I announced. I then concentrated on portals throughout Vorton and brought everyone on board.

“OI! What’s going on?” called Joshua.

“X-PO,” I ordered, “activate the secondary a.i.”

“On it,” confirmed X-PO. It took a few seconds.

“Secondary a.i online,” intoned a voice.

“Secondary a.i., this is Queen Megumi Hishikawa,” I answered. “Activate Vorton Destruction sequence. Destruct sequence 1, code 1, 1-A.”

“First destruct sequence code recognized,” reported the a.i.

“Guard,” I directed.

“Secondary a.i., this is Sir Richard Saunders,” answered Guard. “Activate Vorton Destruction sequence. Destruct sequence 2, code 1, 1-A, 2-B.”

“Second destruct sequence code recognized,” reported the a.i.

“X-PO,” I commanded.

“You gave X-PO that kind of power!?” snarled Hiro.

“Secondary a.i., this is the Experimental Portal Operator,” called X-PO. “Activate Vorton Destruction sequence. Destruct sequence 3, code 1, 1-B, 2-B, 3.”

“Destruct sequence ready,” reported the a.i. “Set time and initiate final code to begin countdown.”

“Set Vorton Destruction,” I ordered. “Command code 0-0-0-Destruct-0 30 minutes.”

“Destruct sequence completed and engaged,” called the a.i. “Vorton will detonate in 30 minutes.”

“X-PO, Priority Vortech alpha! Abort Vorton Destruct sequence!” demanded Hiro. X-PO’s eye flashed red. “WHAT?! But, that only happens when the code’s been deleted! And it was tied into the coordinates of………you told the truth! Vortech really DID wipe the coordinates from your memory!”

“Took you long enough to realize that,” snarked X-PO.

“You can try whatever trick you may have previously installed in X-PO,” I hissed, “but, when he was tossed aside and I proved myself, he chose ME to lead him! I’m the one in control here! So, I suggest you…!” I didn’t get far as Hiro fired! He then drew his i.d tag.

“Henshin! Dai Super Charge!” he announced. He went straight to Kamen Rider Rift and proceeded to barrel through us and enter the corridors.

“After him!” I shouted. We took off and ran after him as he headed to the bridge. He managed to lock us out.

“Engineering to Megumi, what’s going on?” asked Kämpfer.

“Hiro’s back,” I replied. “Vorton’s gonna blow in…25 minutes now. We’re locked out of the bridge. Can you get us in?”

“2 minutes to let me do so,” called Kämpfer. The ship’s comms activated.

“Relinquish control of the ship to me, or I gas you all, pick up the Foundation Elements, and let Vorton explode,” shouted Rift.

“…1 minute, then,” remarked Kämpfer.

“Good work,” I called to Kämpfer. “As for you, Rift, I recommend you back off!”

“I have no reason to,” dismissed Rift. “Not when Foundation Prime needs to be raised.”

“I like how you have new ears,” I commented, “and yet, you’re still hard of hearing! There’s no way for us to get from here to Foundation Prime, much less contact it!”

“I have traveled throughout the multiverse and have seen universes of pure majesty!” declared Rift. “I have seen ancient mindless evils that fill in the cracks and eat dimensions just for a snack! I have heard tales of an Outer God made of pure glitchy data that was convinced to commit suicide by a fat, screechy comic book nerd! Contacting Foundation Prime for help is ‘small potatoes’, I believe the expression is. You are but a flea that I can brush aside!”

“There are reasons for us not finding Foundation Prime, much less talking to it!” I insisted.

“A fabrication by the original Vortonians, at best,” snarled Hiro, “a ruse by you, at worst. Either way is irrelevant.” At that point, the bridge opened and we crept in. Hiro was still working at a console. I then converted my sword to gun mode and leveled it at Rift. I almost pulled the trigger, but Rift brought out his weapon in bazooka mode and fired! “Did you really think I would fall for that?” he quizzed.

“Vorton Destruction sequence aborted,” reported the secondary a.i. No!

“You think you can beat ME?!” roared Rift as he fired. “I am Adachi Hiro, the vanquisher of Death herself! My life shall continue until the multiverse is all one! You are but the footnote in the pages of my glory! And when they build statues of me, trampling over you, you shall be remembered as…”

“Excuse me,” interrupted a soft, woman’s voice.

“WHAT?!” roared Rift as he faced a woman with bronze hair, a bronze dress with 13 panels of four spheres, a sleeveless top, a choker with two rings, a hairband with a light on each end, a blue dot in the center of her forehead, and silver gauntlets with a plunger resting on the right forearm and a Dalek gun resting on the left forearm.

“That’s my friend you just insulted,” said the woman. She then used the plunger to grab Rift’s chest and toss him over her head. Death was confused.

“I want the life-timer of the woman in front of me,” she whispered as her eyes glowed. A sand-timer came into her hands and she looked at the name. Her eyes went wide. “Impossible!” she whispered.

“What? What is it?!” I asked. Death turned to the woman.

“You squishy, green maniac!” she whispered with a grin.

“Who are you talking about?!” I demanded.

“RUSTY!” cheered Death. “He’s…she’s alive!” She pointed to the woman. I gave the woman a look. On closer inspection, her dress DID look like a Dalek.

“Well?” asked the woman. “Aren’t you going to say thank you?” She held a hand to her ear.

“Well, Rusty,” I mused, not believing her, “I suppose that 2,000,000 stud reward you gave us will have to go back so you can spend it wisely.”

“What are you talking about?” asked the woman. “I gave you 220,000 studs. This was before Vortoranii became your belt’s a.i and it made the total, at the time, 600,000. I was there when you were crowned Queen and functioned as a member of your Tech support staff.” I don’t believe it! It really is…!

“RUSTY!” I cheered as I ran forward. I hugged him…her and laughed in joy. “But…how…we fired your body into a star! How are you…?”

“The Dalek?!” roared Rift. “IMPOSSIBLE!”

“You know what, you can explain later,” I said to Rusty.

“Of course,” agreed Rusty. “Now, as for you, for causing a radiation leak, as I would have put it earlier, EXTERMINATE!” She fired from her blaster and Rift glowed teal with his skeleton showing. He screamed but didn’t crumple to the floor. Instead, he swatted the beam aside. Odd, given that it was light and radiation. Rift panted.

“That…hurt!” he gasped. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be altered to prevent death by a Dalek blaster? I was surrounded by xenophobic maniacs when we recruited Davros and those tanks!”

“Huh,” I muttered. “Swing and a miss, Rusty.”

“In all honesty, I should have figured that,” replied Rusty. Rift then fired on us and escaped the bridge.

“He’s going for the hangar!” yelped Death.

“I’ll cut him off!” called Rusty.

“No!” I countered. “Does your plunger still work as a computer interface?”

“Manipulator arm,” corrected Rusty. “And, yes, it does.”

“Talk to the ship’s computers and slow down our orbit,” I directed. “I’ll face Rift.” I charged off before anyone could stop me. I saw Rift walking the corridor and looking out the window. He got visibly angry. I peeked out my window and could see our orbit slowing down. Thank you, Rusty. I then aimed my weapon at Rift’s window, waited, and fired! The window shattered as the air was being sucked out into space. I grabbed an overhead support and Rift grabbed my leg!

“Activating emergency bulkheads!” called X-PO’s voice over the comms.

“Belay that!” I ordered

“What?!” yelped X-PO.

“I have business that requires an open window!” I replied. I felt Rift climbing up my leg. At that point, I raised my other foot and slammed it onto Rift’s head. “I! HAVE HAD! ENOUGH OF YOU!” I said as I kicked. One final kick was enough to send Rift flying through the window and into space. His suit should give him enough air for five hours, more than enough to make a rift for himself. He flew past Vorton. “Okay, X-PO, you can close the bulkheads!” I called. An emergency blast door slid over the window, stabilizing everything. I let go of the overhead support and let myself tumble to the floor. I then cancelled my transformation. “…Wheeeee…” I sighed.

* * *

Emily had just checked us all over after that hair-raising escapade. We gathered in the Gateway room after our check-up. “Well, all in all, that could have gone worse,” I mused.

“COULD HAVE GONE WORSE?!” protested Mr. Babineaux. “The creature that kidnapped us came back to life and nearly made you destroy our base of operations! The rest of us were surprised to be evacuated that quickly! I’m still trying to process the information!!”

“Papa,” calmed Emmanuel. “Perhaps this event happened for the best. We have an old friend back, Hiro’s been defeated as usual, and the _Executor_ is back in control.”

“There IS an explanation waiting,” I recalled. “Rusty, how DID you come back? We fired your body into a star, per your last wish.”

“That’s where things got tricky, even for me,” answered Rusty. “After you fired me into a star, my shell’s computers switched on. I was surprised but decided to take advantage of the situation. You do recall that Azmuth was studying my shell?”

“I remember,” I muttered. “I argued with him a lot about it. Eventually, I caved.”

“Good thing you did,” replied Rusty. “When Ben confronted Azmuth about it, I beamed into the Omnitrix and collected and copied various genetic samples, combining them into one. I then beamed myself and the samples to the Codon Stream on Primus.

“My new body then rose out of the stream and started testing out the limits. By all appearances, I was human, but I noticed holes on my forearms. I then realized those were for armaments, specifically, mine. I had to get back, so I waited for a ship. Azmuth then arrived on a ship with a female Chimera Sui Generis named Myaxx. I snuck aboard the ship and waited for take-off.

“It took a few days, but I was taken to Galvan Mark II. Azmuth was creating his own Gateway. It didn’t have the proper codes to connect to Vorton, but I still remembered them. I generated my own portal to the closet here as I was still nude. I then found clothes that would emulate my shell. Once I was dressed, I returned to the upper levels and found my shell in its glass case. I took the armaments and then teleported to the _Executor_ ’s bridge.”

“And then you gave your dramatic reveal,” I chuckled. A couple of tears came down. “It’s good to see you again!” I gave him…her…I gave Rusty a hug. Rusty reciprocated.

“I guess, the question is, what pronouns are we using?” asked Elphaba.

“Yeah, that leads to another question,” muttered Tanisha. “Why a female body?”

“I just thought it looked cool,” replied Rusty. “So, female pronouns are preferred.” I then broke off the hug.

“Still, it’s good to have you back!” I cheered.

“Good to BE back,” replied Rusty. Lukas then entered, looking pale and weak.

“WHOA!” yelped Emily as she led him to a bench. “Dude, are you okay?!”

“Nein,” muttered Lukas, shakily, “nein, I’m NOT okay. I…er…I recently undid Hiro’s control over the _Executor_.”

“Do I even WANT to know how he got control?” I asked.

“Well, to answer that,” replied Lukas, “he connected like an Astromech. He then copied over code and altered a few things. All in all, not that different from when Tech Support takes over your computer.”

“So, why are you so spooked?” asked Emmanuel.

“Because, in going through the code,” clarified Lukas, “in getting it back to the settings before he got in and updating the security software, I discovered something. He copied something over.”

“What did he copy?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“He copied…Vorton’s coordinates,” gulped Lukas.

“WHAT?!” shouted Batman.

“He’s got our location locked in the Rogue Driver,” confirmed Lukas.

“Wha…when did he do that?!” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” replied Lukas. “My best theory, given what went on, it was as he accelerated the _Executor_ ’s orbit. He used it as a false trail to distract whoever would be on to him. …Even then, the whole plan was, er, half-assed, I believe the expression is.” I ran my hands down my face.

“We’re in a precarious state, everyone,” I muttered.


	51. Chapter 51

I shook my head to clear the impact. My surroundings were…colorful, to say the least. It seemed like an American street in the 20’s. An elderly man came up. He wore a straw hat and a sash that said “Mayor” on it. He was bright and cheerful. “Good Morning!” he cheered

“…Good Morning,” I replied. “I am Hiro Adachi, who are you?”

“I’m Christopher George Weaver!” introduced the man. “The mayor of Main Street, USA!”

“USA?” I repeated. “I’m in America?”

“You look new,” remarked Mayor Weaver. “Are you moving in?”

“I’m…not going to be staying long,” I answered.

“That’s a pity,” sighed Mayor Weaver before putting on his happy face. “Well, in any case, enjoy your visit!” He headed off to his car where his wife was waiting.

“Really, now, Christopher,” she remarked as they pulled away, “don’t you think he needs a doctor?”

“He seemed all right to me,” assured the mayor. They disappeared and I ducked into an alley to raise Foundation Prime.

“Mayday!” I hissed into my comms unit. “Mayday! Mayday! This is a distress call! This is Hiro Adachi, resurrected!” I was met with static. “Damn!” I swore. “I need a Foundation Element’s power to boost the signal!”

“Found one,” reported the Rogue Driver. “Keep walking. I’ll get you there.” I shrugged, then walked down the street. Various cartoon characters were running by alongside humans. I then saw a large castle, white with blue roofs. I was told to go there. Near the portcullis across the moat, I saw a boy with spiky brown hair, oversized yellow shoes, and a goofy expression talking to a woman with blood-red hair, a teal sea star in her hair, and wearing a sea-green dress. She was accompanied by a raven-haired man in princely regalia. “The boy has it,” confirmed the Rogue Driver.

“Excuse me!” I called to the trio. They turned to see me.

“Who are you?” asked the boy.

“Where I’m from,” I chided, “it’s bad manners to ask questions before introducing yourself. In any case, that’s irrelevant. You have an object of immense power?”

“Er, yes, the Keyblade,” stammered the boy.

“Readings of this ‘Keyblade’ match those of a Foundation Element,” reported the Rogue Driver.

“Excellent!” I cheered. I then drew one of my pistols. “I’ll be taking the Keyblade, then.”

“Whoa! WHOA! Okay!” yelped the boy. He then summoned a large key with a yellow guard. “See? Here it is! FIRAGA!” He swiped at the air and threw a large fireball at me! I got out of the way and fired back. It ended in a shoot-out as we circled. The girl didn’t do so, so I wrapped my free arm around her and held the gun to her head.

“Hand over the Keyblade or her dress is stained with something grey, brain-matter grey!” I threatened. Then, it happened. She screamed, making me wince slightly, then…apparently, she wears heels as one of them punctured my foot! I released her and dropped my gun to grab my left foot and hop around in pain saying “ITAI!” loudly. She ran as fast as she could in her heels and dress and buried herself in her raven-haired friend’s arms.

“That was his wife you threatened!” snarled the boy as he charged at me. I grabbed both my guns and put my i.d tag into the Rogue Driver.

“Henshin!” I announced. I fired, making a red circle with my suit’s profile going sideways, and leapt through the circle. I became Kamen Rider Rogue once again and turned my pistols into their Shōtō (short sword) mode. I clashed with the boy again and again, until I “accidentally” loosened my grip on the swords. They were knocked out and the Keyblade was about to strike, but I grabbed the shaft. “Your blade is connected to you, no?” I remarked. “Let’s fix that!” I sent a surge of energy through the blade and it ran through the boy. After a few seconds, I wrestled it from the boy’s grip and stood over him.

“That won’t be in your hands for long!” boasted the boy. He held his hands out and waited for something. Nothing happened. “WHAT?!” yelped the boy.

“I severed your connection with the Keyblade,” I explained. “You’re unarmed and useless!”

“Give that back!” shouted the boy as he leapt onto my arm. I swatted him aside.

“Hello! Rogue Driver!” called a voice over the comms I missed hearing. “I detected a surge of energy! What’s going on?”

“My sweet eagle,” I replied, “your tiger is back!”

“Hiro-Chan!” cheered Igura. “Where have you been?! I’ve been looking all over the multiverse for you!!”

“Well, I’ve been denied access to Foundation Prime,” I answered. “Can Vortech give me a lift? I have two things of value to him.”

“I’m afraid he’s away,” replied Igura. “But, I can get you home!” A portal opened and I limped into it at top speed.

* * *

Vorton’s current atmosphere was tense, I won’t lie. We tried various methods to take our mind off the danger that Hiro presented. I toured Vorton and found various training exercises and recreational activities going on. In the Battle Arena, Hongo was training some Stormtroopers in riding speeder bikes. “All right,” he called, “on your bikes!” The troopers mounted their speeders. “All you need to do is weave through the trees and get to the other end, then turn around and return here. On my mark! 3! 2! 1! GO!” Three troopers took off, one’s bike exploded, and the last one didn’t go. The rider altered some settings, then found himself and the bike flying into the air. Hongo face-palmed. A rider crashed into a tree. One rider found himself turned around and crashed into the other rider. Hongo saw me. “Vader said these were the Empire’s finest,” he muttered. I commed someone.

“Requesting a cleanup and medical crew in the Battle Arena,” I called. The rider that went flying landed, hard. I then headed to the firing range to see Fred training some troops.

“Men, we may not see eye to eye, but you ARE the backbone of your Empire!” he declared. “Show me how you hit those targets!” The troopers readied their blasters and fired for a bit. “CEASE FIRE!” roared Fred. “Why are you idiots shooting from the hip?!”

“Permission to explain, sir!” requested a trooper.

“Permission granted!” answered Fred.

“Sir, the armor doesn’t let us aim, sir!” reported the trooper.

“Bulls**t!” swore Fred. He was wearing armor in his size. “I can easily…what the?” He couldn’t lift his gun up to line up his sights.

“I hate to say, ‘I told you so,’ sir,” snarked a second trooper.

“Then don’t!” snapped Fred. “What about spinal movement?”

“Sir, permission to demonstrate spinal movement!” requested a third trooper as he engaged the safety of his gun.

“Permission granted,” replied Fred. The trooper dropped his gun and tried to bend over, no dice. “So, none,” remarked Fred.

“I hate to sound needy, sir,” called the last trooper, “but our peripheral is practically nonexistent.”

“Is it now?” asked Fred as he put his helmet on. “Why, yes! Yes, it is,” he confirmed. He then took off the helmet. “So, we can’t aim, can’t see out of the corner of our eyes, can’t bend over…”

“And our armor is made of a material that is so weak, we literally die in one hit,” supplied the third trooper.

“That explains why you guys are losing,” commented Fred as he took off his helmet. I left that room and looked into another room to see Linda going through a drill with three Stormtroopers.

“So, you guys are supposed to be policemen as well as soldiers?” she muttered. “I gotta say, military police make me twitchy, and our own boys in blue are near enough. Okay, here’s the situation: you’ve got orders to identify drivers on the street.”

“Why?” asked a trooper.

“What do you mean, ‘why’?!” snapped Linda. “You’re searching for someone or something!”

“How will we find the thing we’re looking for if we don’t know what it is?” asked the second trooper.

“NOW, we’re asking the real questions,” joked the third trooper.

“Seriously?!” called Linda “Fine, you’re looking for…” she then picked up an R9 Astromech, “this droid, right here!”

“Found it,” remarked the first. “Job’s done.”

“No! Come on!” shouted Linda. “Look, you’ve got orders to stop drivers and search for a droid. I will drive this speeder around the course, you stop and identify me. Are we clear?”

“Eeeyup!” replied the third trooper. Linda put the Astromech into the speeder, started the speeder, and went halfway around until the second trooper stopped her.

“Good day,” she greeted.

“How long have you had that droid?” asked the trooper.

“About a year now,” replied Linda.

“I’m gonna need to see your identification,” requested the trooper.

“I don’t think there’s a need for that,” answered Linda. The trooper then tried to be funny.

“We don’t need to see her i.d right now,” he called to his buddies.

“I’m not hearing this!” growled Linda as the troopers giggled.

“Oh, but you are,” replied the joking trooper. “Move along.” At that point, I made my presence known and made the trooper bend over backwards to look at me.

“If you nitwits try this sort of nonsense during our final battle,” I whispered. “I will scour your universe to find you! Are we clear?!”

“Crystal!” yelped the trooper. I released him and they tried again while I left. I remembered that I had an appointment and headed to the Gateway room.

“X-PO, I need a rift to the Ghostbusters of 1984,” I called.

“One rift, coming up!” replied X-PO. I headed to the Ghostbusters’ universe and wound up in front of Ghostbusters HQ. I knocked on the door and heard that it was okay to enter. Sludgiona was in a barrel reading a magazine next to a red-head named Janine, also reading a magazine.

“Hey!” I said, as cheerfully as I could, noticing the awkward silence. “How are things?”

“Slow, business-wise,” muttered Janine. “That’s fine though, since the boys are still trying to help Sludgiona here. Despite appearances, she’s very tidy and neat. A really valuable temp here.”

“Has Egon found your universe?” I asked Sludgiona.

“No,” she sighed. “Have any of your people?”

“No,” I admitted lamely.

“Figures,” she mumbled as she grabbed a soda.

“Look, we’re going to find it,” I assured. “It’s just that the multiverse is big and the maps we have are totally different, given that one is from Tarlax 13 and the other is from Vorton. We will find a common reference point and…”

“I didn’t ask you to come here to nag about that,” interrupted Sludgiona after she sipped her drink.

“Then, why did you ask me to visit?” I asked.

“I…” she was struggling to find the words. “I wanted to apologize.”

“…For what?” I asked.

“For…for everything! For fighting you, even after you freed me!” answered Sludgiona. “I don’t know, maybe I should’ve asked for help a while ago.”

“…Apology accepted,” I replied.

“Maybe if I asked you to help, I wouldn’t be stranded here!” cried Sludgiona.

“Stop,” I directed. Sludgiona looked confused. “I was the one who destroyed your declamation chip.”

“Might as well have been me,” mumbled Sludgiona.

“The only mistakes we’re responsible for are the ones we make ourselves, even in an emotional state,” I countered. “I was the one who let her zeal to free the multiverse influence that decision, and it was still the wrong one. We’ve all made mistakes in the past and we’re gonna make many more in the future. The only thing we can do is pick up after ourselves, learn from those mistakes, and move on. We can play the blame game after we died.” Sludgiona gave a sad smile.

“Those are…sagely words,” she mused.

“Is there…anything I can get you?” I asked.

“Not right now,” replied Sludgiona. “This dimension is starting to grow on me. I’ll talk to you later.” A little terse, maybe, but she meant it kindly. I summoned a ride home and toured Vorton again when I came back. Vader was taught Poker by Richard and learned quickly.

“Raising by 2,000,” declared Vader as he put 16,000 studs into the pot.

“Is that a joke, my lord?” asked a Stormtrooper.

“Do I joke that often?” asked Vader.

“I call,” replied Mr. Babineaux. His son, Emmanuel, was looking on.

“He has him!” he cheered to himself.

“Who has who?” I asked, startling Emmanuel. He recovered quickly.

“Papa, he has Richard, how you say, on the ropes,” he replied. I looked at Mr. Babineaux’s studs.

“What was the buy-in?” I asked.

“500,000 studs,” answered Emmanuel.

“He’s down to a quarter that now!” I observed.

“Not for long,” boasted Emmanuel. “He’ll get the pot.”

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

“…Well…Poker is a…very deep…and involved game,” floundered Emmanuel. “Papa’s strategy will become apparent in a minute.”

“…You have absolutely no idea how Poker is played, do you?” I asked.

“…Non,” replied Emmanuel. “But, I HAVE gained a new appreciation for the game.”

“When?” I asked.

“When Papa started playing it as much as he goes to church,” answered Emmanuel. “He will be victorious and defeat Vader!”

“Vader’s gonna be tough to crack,” I observed. “Besides, Richard’s on a roll. For the past month, he’s won 202 Poker games of varying styles, even his weakest, Texas Hold-em.”

“Perhaps a wager is in order?” asked Emmanuel.

“I don’t want to bet against a man’s father,” I replied.

“Well, if the Queen is too afraid,” taunted Emmanuel. He only uses my position like that to try and get a rise out of me. It always works, I don’t know why!

“Name your stakes!” I declared.

“Loser buys the winner’s drink,” offered Emmanuel.

“It’s a bet!” I agreed as we shook hands. We then looked on. It was Mr. Babineaux’s bet.

“All in!” he answered.

“I’ll take you up on that,” called Richard as he went all in.

“Blast!” hissed the trooper. “I fold!”

“I fold as well,” replied Vader.

“Pretty bold move to go all in when you’ve lost three quarters of your buy-in in previous rounds,” mused Richard.

“Are you afraid a Frenchman cannot cover his bets?” taunted Mr. Babineaux.

“Perish the thought,” assured Richard. “I just hate to kick someone when they’re down. Let’s see ‘em because I think you’re bluffing and will lose!”

“Well, if it’s the rough stuff we’re doing,” answered Mr. Babineaux, “take a look!”

“A full house? Unbelievable!” gasped Richard.

“And there was no cheating from him,” reported Vader.

“Très bon!” cheered Emmanuel. He turned to me. “I’m a great lover of Chateau d’Yquem from Sauternes. That nectar is one of the gods!”

“I see I have gained a fan!” called Mr. Babineaux.

“Well, I hate to disappoint your fans,” countered Richard.

“…Quoi?” (What?) asked Mr. Babineaux. Richard revealed his hand. “A ROYAL FLUSH?!” protested Mr. Babineaux.

“And HE wasn’t cheating either!” remarked Vader.

“Good thing we folded, my Lord,” observed the trooper.

“203 straight games,” I counted. Emmanuel was red in the face. “Frenchmen don’t like losing?”

“No, we don’t!” confirmed Emmanuel.

“Well, we still have a bet,” I reminded him. “Oddly enough, I’m more preferable to Scotch Whiskey.”

“I will need to visit Scotland to get it,” replied Emmanuel.

“Oh, you can get it when this whole thing is over,” I assured. Emmanuel gave me a look. I left Emmanuel to fume and speak with his father to head back to the Gateway room. I noticed that the Brigadier was with Elphaba and Chell, but no Rusty. “Rusty still getting used to two legs?” I asked.

“Oh no,” replied Elphaba, “she’s just in the Simpsons’ universe.”

“By whose authority?!” I demanded.

“Ms. Sheela’s” answered the Brigadier. “She went with Rusty and Team 10 to investigate a…Plumber…distress call in that universe.”

“You know, I’m getting a little sick and tired of people going on little excursions behind my back!” I snapped. “Maybe I should just make a time-clock!” That was when the gateway opened. “Well, look who decided to…WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!” Sheela and her team were battered and bruised! They had two new guys. One of them was a young man, the other was a tall humanoid. It had a purple face with four eyes making the shape of a square on its angle, horns lining the face, no visible mouth, a white body with four red eyes on the chest, wings folded onto the shoulders connecting to the chest eyes, and black feet, lower legs, and left forearm. His right arm was colored green and ended in a vine like pattern on the upper arm. “And who are these two?” I asked.

“My name is Kazuraba Kōta,” panted the guy.

“And I am Reinrassic III, seventh son of the Noble Highbreed House of Derazza, direct descendant of the Pure Blooded High Order of Rarsect, and current Atasian Supreme,” introduced the alien.

“Reinrassic…Reiny?!” I yelped. “You’re the Highbreed Ben helped out?”

“Atasian,” corrected Reiny, “and, yes.”

“Everyone to the medical ward at once,” I ordered. “I want to know what went on.”


	52. Chapter 52

When you had left, your Majesty, I was getting myself ready for a tour of After Academy. All of a sudden, I saw Team 10 rushing to the portal. I headed after them and saw Rusty about to jump after them! “HEY!” I called. “What’s going on here?!”

“No time to talk!” rushed Ben. “Plumber in trouble!”

“What?” I asked.

“The intergalactic police force of Ben’s universe,” explained Rusty. “I’m going with them.”

“Just a sec!” I protested. “We can’t…!” The portal opened and Team 10 jumped in.

“Wait for me!” called Rusty as she jumped in.

“Stop!” I demanded as I followed after them. Too late. We landed back in Springfield. “What were you thinking?!” I berated. “Do you have any notion what Megumi’s gonna do to us?! We’re in a state of emergency! She ordered all hands on deck!”

“We have got to get whatever Plumber is in danger,” countered Rook.

“Without backup?!” I wailed. “Just get Megumi!”

“We can’t wait for her!” protested Max. “We’re going!”

“No one’s going anywhere!” I demanded.

“Too late for that,” remarked Kevin.

“Rusty, talk some sense into these guys!” I snapped.

“I did. Why do you think I joined them?” answered Rusty.

“RUSTY!” I protested.

“We can’t leave a person in distress,” insisted Rusty. “For all we know that person could be taken by Vortech.”

“What would Plumbers supply Vortech with?!” I argued.

“All that tech, for one thing,” replied Kevin.

“And he could use the Plumbers to get to Galvan and get into Azmuth’s schematics of the Omnitrix,” figured Gwen.

“He could also play you guys for fools and plant a fake signal to get the Omnitrix!” I replied. “That thing is the Foundation Element of your universe!”

“We can’t risk letting a potential Plumber be captured!” snapped Max. There was a tone of finality. I sighed.

“There’s no talking you out of this, is there?” I sighed. Everybody shook their heads. “All right, but we stick to the shadows! I don’t want to interfere with any events in this universe.”

“Agreed,” complied Max.

“All right, let’s find that Plumber and get out of here as quickly as possible,” I declared. We headed down a street, staying out of sight as we followed the beacon marker on the Omnitrix. It stopped when we reached a house. Ben slapped the Omnitrix for a bit, but nothing happened.

“Of course!” hissed Ben. “Why WOULDN’T you lose it?!”

“Er, Ben,” stopped Rook, “I think the Omnitrix has found the source, actually.”

“What?” asked Ben. Rook pointed into a house, the house belonging to Homer and his family. They were having a meal and Homer was trying to read the paper when he noticed something.

“Hey! Who cut something out of my paper?!” he quizzed. He looked around the table to see Bart eating and Marge cutting the bottom of the cereal box out. Homer was clueless. After a few seconds, the phone rang. Homer got up and headed over to get it. It was then that I saw a disc with the Omnitrix symbol on it in his rear pocket.

“A Plumber’s badge?” yelped Max.

“How did he acquire one?” asked Rook.

“We need to talk to him,” I declared.

“I thought you said…” hissed Rusty.

“We’re only getting answers,” I assured. Homer then picked up the phone.

“Yello?” began Homer. “Oh! Hi, Lenny! ...No, why would I need a ride this afternoon?” At that point, Marge decided it was time to vacuum the house. “TO THE BIG ANNUAL WHAT?” shouted Homer over the phone. Marge then “accidentally” bumped the phone’s plug loose with the vacuum cleaner and the call disconnected. “Ah, well,” mused Homer as the phone went dead. “If it was big and annual, I’m sure they would have mentioned it in the newspaper.” He then got a drumstick, but the dog grabbed it. “Yeah, it’s a lazy, dog-dangling afternoon,” muttered Homer. “But, something’s a little off.” He sniffed the dog’s mouth and then waved his hand in front of his nose. “I gotta go get some fresh air,” he said. He went outside to get the aforementioned fresh air and inhaled deeply. He then sniffed more quickly. “What’s that smell?” he yelped. He sniffed again. “Onions...chili powder…cumin…juicy ground chuck! It’s chili! Oh my god! I’m missing the chili cook-off!” He then ran into that pink car of his and took off! The Omnitrix beeped as Homer drove through the street at high speeds!

“We’ll never catch up to him now!” wailed Kevin.

“I can, with XLR8,” offered Ben. He selected an alien and then changed shape. He grew black fur on the torso, blue fur on the head, forearms, and lower legs, spikes on the limbs, and a black, furry, Wolverine style mask around his green eyes. “FASTTRACK!” he shouted. He looked himself over. “Fasttrack’s good,” he mused. “Stronger than XLR8. I can carry some people!”

“But a Citrakayah’s braking is subpar compared to a Kineceleran,” remarked Rook.

“No time to argue!” I directed. “Ben, take your team and get after him! Rusty and I will catch up!” Fasttrack nodded and grabbed his friends as he took off.

“How ARE we going to catch up to him?” asked Rusty.

“With a little horsepower!” I joked as I summoned my horse. “Hop on!” I said. We mounted my horse and followed Fasttrack. We weaved through the streets to arrive at the park where a festival dedicated to chili was taking place. Homer parked and we crashed into the car. Homer either didn’t hear or wasn’t paying attention as he headed to a man’s booth. The sign read “Firehouse Ned’s Five Alarm Chili.”

“Five alarm chili, eh?” mused Homer. He got a sample and tasted it. “Hmm, one…two…hey, what’s the big idea?!”

“That can’t be right!” protested Max. “Five Alarm Chili makes you break into a sweat!”

“Let me try,” replied Ben. He got a sample as Homer wandered off. Ben tasted…and started sweating. “Hot! Hot!! HOT!!! WATER!!!” The man running the booth gave him milk and Ben guzzled it. He stopped after a few seconds.

“That guy must have a high spicy threshold,” I mused. I took a peek, wanting to try it, but no chance. It had beef. “Never mind,” I groaned. Homer stopped at his boss’s Yale Style Saltpeter chili. He took a sample and tasted it.

“Hmm, a bland, timid entry,” he critiqued. Mr. Burns didn’t like that. He threatened to fire Homer as Homer walked away laughing. The last one had Chief Wiggum, a caged creature, and mice surrounding the place. Chief Wiggum was pointing his gun at the mice but didn’t pull the trigger. Ben got a closer look at the creature, then howled with laughter.

“Reinrassic III is afraid of mice?!” he snorted.

“BEN BEN TENNYSON!” wailed Reinrassic. “GET THESE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!”

“I got this,” assured Ben as he selected an alien. “BIG CHILL!” he whispered. He then phased through the cage, made Reinrassic intangible, and got him out. He joined us as Homer shooed the mice away.

“Not! One! Word!” warned Reinrassic.

“How about two?” whispered Big Chill. “Scaredy Cat!”

“Ben!” chided Gwen.

“What?” asked Big Chill as he changed back into Ben. “I’ve never seen an Atasian scared of mice!”

“In any case,” sighed Reinrassic, “I’m glad to see you. I wondered if my distress call with my new Plumber’s badge would get through to anyone.”

“New Plumber’s badge?” quizzed Ben. “You joined the Plumbers?”

“One of my people is a bailiff on Coda Coda with Judge Domstol, why not an Atasian Plumber?” asked Reinrassic.

“You realize that this is rather awkward as we’ve never had an active politician serving before,” remarked Max.

“Guys, hold on,” I hissed. “I think Homer’s about to try that chili!” He was given a spoonful and gulped it down.

“More, please,” requested Homer. Chief Wiggum looked surprised and did as requested. Homer ate a bigger helping, then laughed. “Well, Chief, don’t quit your day job! Whatever that is!” He walked away, then started screaming, then started clutching his stomach. “I don’t feel so good!” he mumbled. He then passed out. There was no meat in Chief Wiggum’s chili, so I decided to show how high my spicy threshold was. It’s unusually high for any human, I can tell you right now.

“Gimme!” I demanded to Chief Wiggum. He gave me a sample. I waited for the kick, and I didn’t wait long! This thing was above MY threshold! “GARAM! PAANEE!” (HOT! WATER!) I screamed before passing out.

* * *

I stirred from my spice-induced fainting; my vision was a little blurry. I could see other shapes but couldn’t focus. Eventually, my vision cleared. I could see my friends and allies getting up and that we were in some sort of desert. Reinrassic was fanning himself with his green arm. “The moment when I wish to be blended with a Necrofriggian!” he complained.

“Allow me,” offered Ben as he selected an alien. He became a blue iguana like alien with three dorsal fins running down the back and gills on each side of the head. “ARCTIGUANA!” shouted the new alien. “Eh, it’ll do.” He breathed onto the ground and formed ice. We all reveled in the cool air.

“Much better,” sighed Reinrassic. “You have my gratitude.”

“That’s a big change from the last time we were in a desert,” recalled Arctiguana.

“What are you doing here?” asked Kevin.

“It wasn’t by choice!” protested Reinrassic. “I had just passed the final exam and was given my Plumber’s badge when a portal opened up. I was deposited near the nuclear power plant and found myself talking to a ghost. I believe she called herself Heather.” Team 10 gasped.

“Did she dress as Isosceles Right Triangle Vreedle?” asked Rook.

“And talk like her?” asked Arctiguana.

“I am familiar with these Vreedles,” replied Reinrassic, “and, to answer both questions, yes.”

“Great, her ghost is haunting the multiverse!” hissed Arctiguana.

“You know her?” quizzed Reinrassic.

“We met her and felt the attitude was familiar,” replied Gwen,

“Er…well…yes,” muttered Reinrassic as he shifted uncomfortably.

“I don’t understand,” I commented.

“The Atasians when they called themselves the Highbreed,” explained Rusty, “were much like my old colleagues.”

“We were hell-bent on bringing the galaxy down with us,” continued Reinrassic. “We believed so much in racial purity that it led to inbreeding, loss of resistance to disease, and sterility. For a while, I was part of the last generation of Atasians. Until Ben Ben Tennyson helped me and my people.”

“Er…Ben Ben?” I asked.

“He introduced himself as such,” answered Reinrassic.

“Er…Reinrassic III,” interjected Rook, “I do not believe that is true.”

“I don’t understand,” said Reinrassic.

“He was saying Ben pause Ben, like a comma,” replied Rook. Reinrassic scratched his head, then got a tablet out.

“Computer, remind me to review Human grammar when we are in a safer place,” he directed. “I’m unfamiliar with this…comma.” The tablet pinged to show his reminder was set and he put it away.

“So, you were sucked up by a portal,” whispered Arctiguana. “Was it blue?”

“Er, yes,” replied Reinrassic. “What relevance does that have?”

“It’s a dimensional rift,” I explained. “My team uses them to get the Foundation Elements.”

“So, how did you get in the cage?” asked Arctiguana as the Omnitrix beeped and flashed red.

“When I arrived here, I was thrown in that cage by Heather’s ghost and carted around as a sideshow attraction for 3 days!” snarled Reinrassic. “That was when I activated the distress signal, dropped the badge, and saw that man pick it up!” He pointed to Homer, who was waking up. “Now I REALLY understand what an Appoplexian feels like at the circus!”

“We’re trying to stop that nonsense,” assured Max.

“What’s happening to me?!” called Homer’s voice. I then got an idea.

“Homer usually solves his problems through pure luck and accident,” I replied. “Maybe, we can use him to get to Heather.”

“Good idea!” cheered Rusty.

“Everybody cool enough?” I asked. Everybody nodded. “Then, follow Homer!” I said. We stayed out of sight as Homer wandered through the desert.

“Where am I? Shelbyville?” asked Homer to himself. He stopped at a pond with fish flying ABOVE it. When he approached the pond, the fish went into the water and it turned into glass! Homer took out a can of Buzz cola, drank it, then belched out a long belch, causing the glass to shatter and let a snake circle the island in the pond. It released a jump pad for Homer, then slithered off. “Man, this is crazy!” muttered Homer. “I hope I don’t brain my damage!”

“Too late,” whispered Kevin. Gwen elbowed him. “Ow! What?!” said Kevin.

“SHH!” I hissed. Homer used the jump pad and we followed after him. He wandered for a while, muttering to himself.

“Okay, retrace your steps,” he said. “Woke up, fought with Marge, ate Guatemalan insanity peppers, then I…ooooooohhhh!” He then saw a rock move and release a butterfly that dropped a crank near a gap’s edge and flew off. The crank was on his side of the gap. “Ooookkaaaaay,” muttered Homer, “I think I’m gonna be leaving now.” He turned the crank, and the sun started going up and down! “Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, sunrise…” he went through that loop until the sun fell on his side and shattered into long panels! “Note to self: stop doing anything,” sighed Homer. Somehow, don’t ask me how, he was inspired to build a bridge out of the sun panels. The completed product stood up right, then fell as the gap shortened to the bridge’s length!”

“This has GOT to be a drug trip!” I gulped. We went across the bridge and noticed that there was nothing to use except rocks.

“What?” roared Homer. “Rocks?! Nothing but rocks?! NO DONUTS?!! RGHERGRHGH! HOMER MAD!” He then grew to giant size and started smashing the rocks! After his tantrum, he noticed that the rocks he smashed spelled out “HELP”. As he shrank and admired his handiwork, he noticed a rock crawling away. “Hey, buddy!” he shouted. “Get back there with the other rocks!” He went after it to discover it was an animal. “Huh? A tortoise?” The tortoise was spelling something out. “‘Follow the…’” read Homer. “OH! This must be why I’m here! Follow the what?! Follow the what?!! Hurry up!” Someone landed on him at that point. “D’OH!” The person scuttled off, leaving Homer to pick himself up and follow the tortoise. The person came to us, hoping to find some normality. He was a young man in an orange jacket vest and khakis. He looked around.

“Oh, good, he’s the only one from that world!” he sighed.

“You mean Springfield?” asked Reinrassic. The young man got a look, then grinned.

“So, a rebellious Inves?” he mused. He then got out a Sengoku Driver and a Lockseed with an orange on it. “That, I can understand.” He brought the lock arm up and it spoke.

“ORANGE!” it announced. The zipper in the sky then appeared, opened, and let a metal orange hover over him.

“Henshin!” called the man as he put the Lockseed into the belt. He lowered the lock arm.

“Lock on!” announced the belt. Unlike the rock and roll tune of Bravo’s belt, his played a tune like a Japanese War horn remixed. He then lowered the knife and opened the Lockseed. “Soiya! Orange Arms! Hanamichi! (In the spotlight!) On Stage!” The metal orange landed on his head, created a blue undersuit, and then unfolded to make a chest plate, shoulder pads, and back armor to reveal an orange samurai helmet. He then pulled out a short sword with an orange slice blade.

“Koko kara wa ore no stage da!” he declared. My belt translated it as “This is my stage now!” He charged at Reinrassic and swung his sword. Reinrassic dodged and tried to get out of the fight.

“Oh, for the love of…!” I hissed. I drew out my i.d tag. “Henshin!” I then inserted it into my belt and transformed. I activated my bagh naka and blocked the new Rider’s blade.

“What are you doing?!” yelped the Rider.

“That’s not an Inves, whatever that is!” I protested. “That’s the leader of the Atasian race from another universe!” The Rider stopped struggling and backed off.

“You’re…not an enemy?” he asked Reinrassic.

“Clearly,” commented Reinrassic.

“Oops,” gulped the Rider. “That’s embarrassing for a man of my stature. I became a god of a new world.”

“So, we’re good now?” I asked.

“We’re good,” assured the Rider as he closed the Lockseed and took it off.

“Lock off!” announced the belt as the suit disappeared.

“Let’s start over,” sighed the man. “I’m Kazuraba Kōta, Kamen Rider Gaim.” We went through more introductions and told Kōta about what was going on. “Then, we need to follow Homer!” commented Kōta.

“The tracks are still fresh!” called Reinrassic. “This way!” We charged off after him.


	53. Chapter 53

“Get moving, you stupid…!” grumbled Homer as he kicked the tortoise. We stayed behind. “When I’m kicking you,” continued Homer to the tortoise, “that means hurry up! Come on!” He then punted the poor creature like a football!

“Poor tortoise!” I cried. Homer charged off after the tortoise and arrived at a low altar. The tortoise moved its head to the top.

“Oh, you want me to climb that, huh?” muttered Homer. “No problemo!” He was the one who opened his mouth, he was the one that made a large step pyramid grow with the altar on top. Homer snarled, then kicked the tortoise again. The pyramid grew another level. “D’OH!”

“Well, this is a surprise,” I muttered.

“I’m surprised to see y’all,” called a hillbilly’s voice. Sitting behind us on a rock was a backwoods brunette girl.

“Heather!” shouted Ben. He readied the Omnitrix and slapped down on the core. Rocks covered him and a fire spread out from the core of his body, lighting his head on fire. “HEATBLAST!” he called. “Tell me, can you handle the heat?!”

“Can you handle a Highbreed like my partner?” asked Heather. Heatblast was then decked and forced back into Ben. A large Atasian came into view. It had a humanoid female appearance, but I couldn’t say until she spoke.

“Idiotic cattle!” boomed the Atasian woman. “You cannot stop me!”

“Suppose we make the attempt?” taunted Kōta.

“Do not embarrass yourself, vermin!” snapped the Atasian. Kōta brought out his Lockseed and I got out my i.d tag.

“ORANGE!” announced the Lockseed as he opened it.

“Henshin!” we called. We then transformed in our usual styles.

“Lock on! Soiya! Orange arms! Hanamichi! On stage!” announced the Sengoku Driver. I unleashed my bagh naka as Gaim took out his orange slice sword. Heather laughed.

“I’ve heard of someone being a fruit, but that’s ridiculous!” she laughed.

“I have gay friends that would take offense to that,” I hissed. I charged at Heather and swung my bagh naka, only for them to pass through. “Oh, right, dead.” I sighed.

“I’ve got her!” called Ben. He slapped on the Omnitrix again. “GHOSTFREAK!” Ghostfreak then flew to Heather while she sidestepped Ben and had him fly through a rock. Meanwhile, Gaim and Rook were attacking the Atasian. Gaim then grabbed the Atasian’s arm.

“Unhand me, MONGREL!” roared the Atasian as she threw Gaim off.

“Mother! Enough!” called Reinrassic. The woman stopped her assault and looked at Reinrassic. We all stopped when Reinrassic called the Atasian woman “Mother”.

“Wait, that’s your mom?!” yelped Ghostfreak.

“Asoorma II,” confirmed Reinrassic. “4th daughter of the Noble Highbreed House of Samertha, direct descendant of the Pure Blooded Order of Narseen, and Wife to my late Father, Reinrassic II.”

“Reinrassic, what are you doing here?!” cheered Asoorma. “It is good to see you again! Now, our operations can…” she saw Reinrassic’s arm. “…Reinrassic III, seventh son of the Noble Highbreed House of Derazza, direct descendant of the Pure Blooded High Order of Rarsect, what happened?!”

“A lot of recent events have occurred during your absence,” explained Reinrassic. “Especially my election as Atasian Supreme.”

“Highbreed Supreme!” exclaimed Asoorma. “And that is a lie!”

“No, it isn’t,” argued Ghostfreak. “Kevin, Gwen, and I saw him get that position.”

“Liars!” bellowed Asoorma. “The High Council would never allow someone like him to be Highbreed Supreme!”

“But I have!” protested Reinrassic.

“Impossible!” dismissed Asoorma. “You’ve allowed yourself to become…”

“Stronger!” interrupted Reinrassic.

“Oh, for the love of…IMPURE! LOOK AT YOUR HAND!!” boomed Asoorma.

“Yes, Mother, look at it!” demanded Reinrassic. He then showed his palm. It had a tattoo with four red eyes and black lines around them. Asoorma was surprised.

“The Imperial Seal?!” she exclaimed. “A new Highbreed Supreme?! But…but we were dying out! Corsanth was going to be the last Highbreed Supreme! Besides, I was only to be awakened if we lost the war!”

“The war has ended,” explained Reinrassic. “And, it has ended peacefully, thanks to Ben B…I mean, Ben Tennyson.” He pointed to Ghostfreak. “You see, our species had its DNA altered to save us. I was the first he had saved. After an accident that stranded us both on a desert world, I lost my arm. Ben turned into a creature known as Swampfire and made a new one for me. The new limb rewrote my DNA. At first, I thought it a curse, but now, I see that I draw new strength from it! Mother, we can live again!” Asoorma sat down to consider her son’s words.

“Don’t listen to him!” shouted Heather. “What is power if there isn’t a perfect being to wield it?! Only a pure species can be perfect! The rest of life is nothing more than refuse! Don’t be tainted by your son’s impure words!”

“Mother, what good is purity if it leads to our extinction?!” asked Reinrassic.

“No other life-form needs to be above you!” countered Heather. “That’s what the war was about! You were going to end all life in the universe so you can die as superiors!” Asoorma then held up a hand for silence.

“I have decided,” she declared. “Ben Tennyson, you altered my people’s DNA to save us from extinction?”

“Yes,” replied Ghostfreak.

“Do so with me,” directed Asoorma.

“WHAT!?” shrieked Heather.

“One minute!” called Ghostfreak. He then turned back into Ben. “Omnitrix, can you repair Asoorma’s genetic damage?”

“Genetic Recombination sequence ready,” reported the Omnitrix.

“Do it!” ordered Ben. A ring of light spread out across the desert. When it faded, Asoorma’s coloration looked different. She had a dark blue body with green eyes, a light blue face, and black arms and feet. She looked herself over. “Omnitrix, what did you blend her with?” asked Ben.

“Genetically damaged Atasian was spliced with Necrofriggian DNA,” replied the Omnitrix.

“You use our original name for our species?” asked Asoorma.

“It was per my instructions,” explained Reinrassic.

“Very well,” sighed Asoorma.

“IDIOT!” shouted Heather. “I knew the name ‘Highbreed’ was misplaced amongst you mongrels!”

“Funny how the words stings, correct?” muttered Reinrassic to Asoorma.

“Don’t talk,” hissed Asoorma. “I have yet to discover how useful this form is.”

“You won’t get a chance!” declared Heather. She then jabbed her fingers into Asoorma’s head. Asoorma screamed, then fainted.

“That’s it! No more of Heather’s monkeying around!” declared Ben. He selected an alien and became “SPIDERMONKEY!” He then decked Heather. He started making monkey noises before speaking. “Looks like you’re not as intangible as Ghostfreak!” he said.

“Hold on! This is my fight too!” called Gaim.

“I’ve got an idea!” I announced. “Everyone rush her at once!” We all got our final attacks ready. Gaim sliced the Lockseed three times.

“ORANGE SPARKING!” called the belt. Gaim’s Orange armor folded up into its orange shape and he head-bashed Heather with it. I inserted my i.d tag into my bagh naka.

“Final attack!” announced my weapons.

“RIDER CLAW SLASH!” I shouted as I slashed the air twice, making a tiger out of the energy wave swat Heather. Appropriate, given that bagh naka means tiger claw in Hindi. Spidermonkey slapped on the Omnitrix symbol and turned into a small creature in a white suit with green, narrow eyes, a green mouth, headphones with the connector on the back of the head, and cassette tapes on his lower legs. He had green holes on the back of his hands.

“ECHO ECHO!” called the new creature in a robotic tone. He then turned the Ultimatrix rig key and slapped on the Omnitrix symbol again. He was bathed in green light and grew. He became blue and metallic with a rounded design. He had fifteen blue holes on him and had green cables attaching from the back to the hands and smaller cables from the mouth to the collarbone location. “ULTIMATE ECHO ECHO!” announced the new creature in a deeper robotic tone. He took two holes, revealed to be discs, from his shoulders and tossed them at Heather. They replicated and surrounded her. “SONIC DOOM!” called Ultimate Echo Echo. Heather was bombarded by sound waves and fell to the ground. Gwen tossed a large, pink mana blast and Kevin touched a rock to cover himself in the rock’s material. He then morphed his hand into a sword and slashed Heather. Max, Rusty, and Rook fired with their respective weapons and Reinrassic fired darts from his right arm. The darts projected fire when they fell at Heather’s feet. Heather passed out and fell. “You never did that before!” yelped Ultimate Echo Echo.

“And you never altered your creatures before,” replied Reinrassic. “All Atasians have found that your genetic repair has granted us powers based on those creatures.”

“So, you can control plants, too?” asked Ultimate Echo Echo as he cancelled his transformation and returned to being Ben.

“Not as well as Swampfire,” answered Reinrassic.

“Well, she’ll get out of it,” I replied, referring to Heather. “So, we best continue following Homer.”

“And leave my mother here?!” snapped Reinrassic. Asoorma then stirred. “Mother, are you all right?”

“Ooff!” moaned Asoorma. “That was…unpleasant!” She shook her head. “Although, I do have to admit, the genetic repair helped me recover faster. Perhaps there IS strength in mixing genetics. My thanks, Ben Tennyson.”

“No problem,” replied Ben. “Let’s get out of here.” Gaim and I cancelled our transformations and we all followed closely behind Homer.

“This is because I kicked you, isn’t it?” he grumbled. He had to extend some steps like bleachers, but he made it to the top. It took so long that the moon was out. “Ooh! I hate this place!” whined Homer. He then turned to the heavens. “Why am I here?!” A giant coyote’s head then appeared!

“There is a lesson you must learn,” said the coyote head.

“If it’s about laying off the insanity peppers,” answered Homer, “I’m way ahead of you.” The coyote head then turned into mist, then reformed as a normal sized, complete coyote…as normal as a talking coyote can be.

“No, I speak of a deeper wisdom,” it replied. “The problem, Homer, is that the mind is always chattering away, with a thousand thoughts at once.”

“Yeah, that’s me alright,” responded Homer.

“What thoughts?” whispered Reinrassic. He was sternly hushed by Asoorma. “Yes, mother,” he muttered.

“You must find your soulmate,” declared the coyote.

“Soulmate?” asked Homer.

“Your kindred spirit,” explained the coyote. “The one with whom you share an unspoken bond.” The coyote then ran off.

“Hey! Wait! COME BACK!” called Homer. Too late, the coyote was gone. “Aww!” Then, a whistle blew. Homer saw the source coming at him in the sky! “Ah! A ghost train! And so little time to get out of the way! Now less! Now none!” The idiot was plastered onto the cowcatchers of the train.

“Hop on!” I directed. Everyone got onto the door railings of the coaches as we flew through the air, went through a purple portal, and…

* * *

“D’OH!” exclaimed Homer. We all woke up in various areas of a golf course. My team and I were in the forest near the green while Homer was in a sand trap. We picked ourselves up and ran our hands over our faces. We were drenched in sweat.

“Those peppers must have hallucinogenic properties,” panted Rook.

“Heather and I ate some before we met you,” answered Asoorma.

“Why?!” I asked. “You know what, never mind, we still need to get Reinrassic’s badge back.”

“Badge?” asked Asoorma.

“Reiny’s a Plumber!” called Ben.

“And my first day is rather hectic,” muttered Reinrassic. “Wound up in this universe, lost my badge to that man, and ended up as a caged freak. My day was not going well until Ben B…Ben and his associates arrived.”

“…Reiny?” asked Asoorma. “How did you find out about my nickname for my son?”

“That’s why I was against being called Reiny!” wailed Reinrassic to Ben.

“Can we please?!” I protested.

“Wha…?” mumbled Homer. “The Golf Course? Maybe the desert was just a sand trap.” He started walking off. “Wherever my soulmate is, it’s not here.”

“After him!” I called. We followed him closely, staying out of sight. He wandered around Springfield and the weather changed. It became dark, rainy, and cold. Even with my furry dress, I shivered. Reinrassic and his mother seemed to be doing just fine. “How are you looking so fit?!” I shivered.

“Highbr…Atasians…function better in colder climates,” replied Asoorma.

“Granted, we would prefer snow,” continued Reinrassic, “but, what’s the phrase ‘Them’s the breaks’.”

“You seem to be catching up on Earth expressions faster than I am,” mused Rook.

“It’s nothing but trial and error,” remarked Reinrassic. Homer managed to lead us to the pier. He stopped at a dock and sat down.

“I give up!” he called. He then saw something. “Huh? What’s that blinking light?” He then realized something. “The lighthouse keeper! The loneliest man in the world! He’ll understand me!” He took control of a salvage boat, got the boat’s crane to get something from the water, and move it onto the dock. He pushed it to the roof of a building and climbed up. He then broke the glass ceiling with his sonic belch and fell through. There was toxic waste in there, so Homer activated the sprinklers to wash it away. He then burst through the window and made it to a long wooden path stretching to the lighthouse. He started running out of breath. “I give up!” he wailed again.

“Find your soulmate, Homer,” urged the coyote’s voice. “Find your soulmate!”

“Where?! Where?!” called Homer.

“This is just your memory,” replied the coyote’s voice. “I can’t give you any new information.” That confused me, as I know we all heard it. Homer pressed on and made it to the small island the lighthouse was based. We used rowboats to get there. As we landed, Homer was climbing up the rocks that made up the island. As he did, the Plumber’s badge fell out of his pocket! Reinrassic claimed it and polished it.

“Mission accomplished!” I called. That was when Heather again attacked us. She punched Asoorma and got some sort of quarter-circle from her.

“MOTHER!” yelped Reinrassic.

“That’s one!” cheered Heather. “Three to go, and I’ll have my own Apocalypse Driver!”

“Earl!” called Homer. “My new friend’s name is Earl!”

“Ta-ta!” bid Heather as she made a portal.

“Stop!” I shouted. Too late. She went through. I let my shoulders droop. Reinrassic patted me on the back in a “there-there” fashion. “You know,” I muttered, “maybe it’ll get nowhere. Even so, I’d like to see how Homer’s mysterious voyage bears fruit.” We climbed up, getting battered by wind and flying debris, adding to our bruises with Heather, and made it inside. We climbed up the stairs and made it to the lighthouse’s bulb. We stayed out the door while Homer looked around. He then saw, on a computer screen, that Earl was an acronym for Electronic Automatic Robotic Lighthouse.

“A machine?!” wailed Homer. “Earl’s a machine?! Oh, that’s just perfect! Homer’s desperate search for a soulmate has yielded a lighthouse keeping robot! Oh, WOW!” He then looked out the window. “Alone! I’m alone! I’m a lonely, insignificant speck on a has-been planet orbited by a cold, indifferent sun!” We then heard footsteps. We got out of the person’s way as she made it to Homer. “Oh! MARGE!” called Homer happily. They ran towards each other and embraced one another, kissing deeply. Once the embrace broke off, Homer said to the heavens “In your face, space coyote!” A seagull then smacked against the window, startling Homer, causing him to barrel into us and fall down the stairs, becoming more bruised than ever! At that point, Asoorma asked to go home while Reinrassic asked to return with Ben. I opened a portal for Asoorma and summoned one for us. That’s why we’re so battered, your Majesty.


	54. Chapter 54

“Another Apocalypse Driver?” I yelped when Sheela finished her story. “There can’t be two! Lacey said it would be catastrophic!”

“I have a feeling Heather doesn’t care,” mused Emily. “She’s now bent on bringing life down with her!”

“Doesn’t care about what?” asked a voice. It was Lacey. She was still in her student uniform, as she decided, but her petticoats and ascot were purple. “I wasn’t here for the story, what’s going on?”

“Heather just took a part to make another Apocalypse Driver,” I answered.

“What?!” yelped Lacey. “She can’t do that! What part did she take?!”

“Some quarter-circle from your old home,” answered Ben.

“No, not that!” wailed Lacey. “That’s part of the Apocalypse Weapon Dial! The circle on my belt buckle! That universe, because of hair-raising, deadly scenarios, hides the one for Death Scythe!”

“What could she want with it?!” I asked.

“If I were a betting girl,” answered Lacey, “to get a body.”

“Do you have any ideas where the other Weapon Dial parts are?” asked Emily.

“Indeed, I do,” replied Lacey. “The belt itself is in Dimension G-0-D-Z-1-L-L-4, a bunch of giant monsters run around in that one.” My eyes went wide and I gave a big, fat grin. If I got the naming convention of dimensions down, the belt is in…

“Godzilla’s dimension?!” I squealed. “EEEEEEEEE!!!!”

“I’m that big of a fan too,” chuckled Lacey. “Continuing, the War part is in Sludgiona’s current home, the Pestilence part is in the retro video game dimension, and the Famine part is in 8-4-C-K-T-0-T-H-3-F-U-T-U-R-3.” I then formed a plan.

“X-PO,” I directed, “fire up the Rider chance for _Back to the Future_. We have four dimensions to strike at. Lacey and I will go to Godzilla’s home, Xiomara and Emmanuel are going back to work with the Ghostbusters, Livia and Hiroki are heading into the game world, and the next two rider team will go back to the future.”

“A little sting operation?” chuckled X-PO. “All right! All Riders, to the Gateway room!” Everyone assembled in the Gateway room and I told them the situation. I assigned teams and X-PO set up the Rider Chance for _Back to the Future_. The hands rotated. “And the Riders are…Haitao!”

“Yes!” cheered Haitao.

“…And Joshua!”

“ACE!” called Joshua.

“All right,” I muttered. “Anyone have studs?”

“Studs?” asked Reinrassic.

“They are the main currency here,” explained Rook. “They are little discs that come in either silver, gold, blue, or purple.”

“Oh, these things!” said Reinrassic. He drew out a bag. The studs inside totaled 275,000, making our total 2,972,000. “Have you spent any of them?!” asked Reinrassic.

“There’s nothing TO spend them on,” sighed Joshua.

“All right, everyone,” I called, “If we could step away from our finances at the moment, I want everyone properly trained up and rested for the mission tomorrow. If Vortech decides to attack the dimensions for more Foundation Elements while we try and stop Heather, I want to be ready.”

“I recommend you take one of us with you,” suggested Batman.

“You raise a good point!” I called. “Batman, you’re with me and Lacey. Wyldstyle, you’re going with Joshua and Haitao. Gandalf, you need to go with Livia and Hiroki. Hongo-san, I want you with Emmanuel and Xiomara.”

“Nice!” cheered Wyldstyle. “I kind of liked that dimension!”

“In that specific time period, maybe,” mused Haitao. “Wait until you see Hill Valley in 1955 and 1985.”

“Yes, lovely areas to visit,” called a voice. It had a slight English accent. We whirled around to see a man in a white coat with epaulets, a cane, and a cybernetic right hand. I got ready to fight, but Gwen stopped me.

“Professor Paradox!” yelped Ben.

“You know this man?” asked Reinrassic.

“Ah, Ben!” called Professor Paradox. “And we’re on Vorton, too! So, the Vortech Wars are in full swing! How’s Klawjektor working out for you?”

“Who?” asked Ben.

“Klawjektor!” insisted Professor Paradox. “You were supposed to have unlocked him a while ago! Or, is my Chrono Navigator running fast?”

“What are you doing here?” asked Rook.

“Oh, just travelling the multiverse,” answered Paradox. “Bumped into the Doctor, by the way. How he gets around with that scarf is beyond me.”

“What scarf?” I asked.

“The Doctor wore a ridiculously long scarf in his fourth incarnation,” explained Michael.

“So, what, you’re a universe traveler?” I asked.

“After a fashion,” mused Professor Paradox. He held up his robot arm. “My Chrono Navigator is the multiverse’s GPS.”

“And the whole thing happened in the 50’s,” muttered Richard.

“Professor Paradox and the U.S. Military were working on a Time Travel experiment,” explained Emily. “Something went awry, and the professor was flung into the Event Horizon. He spent…oh, I don’t know…thousands of years in there. He didn’t eat, sleep, age, nor went to the bathroom. He just existed. Of course, he did the only logical thing and went bananas, that’s putting it mildly, yes, but became bored with that after a few millennia, went sane, and learned.”

“I now have complete understanding of the Space-Time continuum and can go anywhere and anywhen I want, within reason,” continued Professor Paradox.

“So, why are you here?” I asked.

“Just needed to ask a question,” replied Paradox. “You haven’t seen a pair of twin girls yet, about yea high?” He reached up to his chin. Everyone was confused. “No? I must be thinking of another moment. Ta-ta!” He then seemed to teleport away.

“Time travelers,” muttered Batman, “always seem to go loony in some way.”

“We’ll discuss that later,” I remarked. “For now, we need to train and rest up.”

“What do you want the rest of us to do?” asked Turretorg.

“Keep the defenses on standby in case Hiro decides to come knocking,” I directed. “I need us ready for him too.”

“All counter measures will be prepared,” promised Reinrassic.

“You intend to stay?” I asked.

“This requires Atasian Technology,” replied Reinrassic. “And I will provide it. I require the use of your communications terminal.” We allowed access and Reinrassic spoke in growls.

“I never heard the Atasian language,” remarked Max.

“I did, when I changed their DNA,” answered Ben. Reinrassic finished and turned to us.

“My planet, Augstaka, needs a portal to send the fleet,” he reported. I gave the go-ahead and Atasian ships flew into Vorton’s orbit. More growls came over the comms. “Fleet Admiral Asoorma requests to be beamed down,” requested Reinrassic.

“Your mom’s a Fleet Admiral?!” gulped Ben.

“Correct,” confirmed Reinrassic. “As such, she is my First Lieutenant in Military matters.”

“She’s free to come on down,” I granted. Reinrassic relayed my approval and a blue, female Atasian beamed into the Gateway room.

“Home looks a lot more civilized than when I last saw it,” sighed the Atasian woman. Asoorma, if I got Sheela’s story right. “Ah, Ben. I understand YOU had a helping hand in it,” remarked Asoorma. “Now that I see the full scale of your help,” she held her hand out. Ben shook it. “Thank you for saving my people, Ben Tennyson.”

“No biggy,” assured Ben.

“Are you the one in charge?” asked Asoorma.

“No, that would be Megumi, there,” replied Ben as he pointed to me.

“Queen Megumi Hishikawa, at your service,” I introduced. “Walk with me, I’ll brief you on the situation while your son addresses the Atasian troops.” I led Asoorma away as the rest moved to get themselves ready.

* * *

“Admiral’s Log: Stardate 53159.932. I had just received word that an anomaly was making frequent appearances in orbit above New Unity, a colony founded after final events with Data’s brother, Lore, had taken place. I am concerned that the inhabitants of New Unity, freed Borg Drones, would be under attack by their former Collective, but Hugh, the leader of the colony, and personal friend of mine, said that the Borg do not deal with generating these types of anomalies. The new _Enterprise H_ is on its way to the Colony and will be entering orbit shortly. End Log.” The computer chimed that it finished recording what I said. I got up from my chair, moving towards the door. This _Enterprise_ is certainly…flashier…than the one I commanded. I made my way to the bridge. I was hoping to not get caught, but someone said, “Admiral on the bridge!” Everyone stood to attention.

“At ease,” I assured. I noticed the Captain’s chair was empty. “Whereabouts is Captain Sh’Kar?”

“In the Captain’s Ready Room, sir,” replied the Helmsman, a Caitian man.

“Thank you,” I said. One thing I WILL say, the Captain’s Ready Room is not all different from what I’m used to, just behind the bridge instead of beside it. I chimed my presence.

“Enter,” boomed an Alto voice. The door slid open and I saw Captain Sh’Kar, daughter of Nor’theen. The Klingon woman stood when she saw me. “Admiral Picard,” she noticed. “I was unaware you would be coming here.”

“Just a small visit,” I assured Sh’Kar as I sat in the chair across from her. She sat back down. “How’s the ship getting on for you?”

“So far, it’s going well for the crew,” replied Sh’Kar. “Many of them would have sold their soul to be on a ship named _Enterprise_.”

“What about you?” I asked. Sh’Kar then understood.

“I will admit,” she sighed, “this is nerve-wracking. However, the crew doesn’t need to know that.”

“Most of the crew,” I suggested. “It helps to have an inner circle.”

“I suppose,” muttered Sh’Kar. Her Klingon values made her a bit guarded, but Worf recommended her highly. The Communications chime then came on.

“Sareth to Captain,” called a man’s voice. I nodded.

“Go ahead, Sareth,” boomed Sh’Kar.

“We are approaching New Unity,” reported Sareth.

“On my way,” replied Sh’Kar. We left the Ready Room and entered the bridge. She took her place at the Captain’s chair while I stood by Sareth, a middle-aged Vulcan and head of security. “Hail them,” ordered Sh’Kar.

“Hailing frequencies opened,” confirmed Sareth.

“This is Captain Sh’Kar of the _Enterprise_ ,” boomed Sh’Kar. “We are responding to a request for Federation help from this planet.” The viewscreen changed to show a young man strapped in by metal, wires, and tubing, the classic Borg Drone look. Normally, I would have flashbacks of when I was in such a condition, but this was a friendly face.

“And we are glad to see that our request was answered,” replied the Borg. “I am Hugh, leader of New Unity. We are glad to see a Federation ship, especially one with the name of _Enterprise_.”

“And we are glad we’re among friends,” answered Sh’Kar.

“I see that Picard is here as well,” cheered Hugh. “Good to see you again!”

“And you, old friend,” I replied. “I trust politics do not bore you?”

“No, I have fresh challenges every day,” chuckled Hugh. “Would you please come down? I would like to discuss this in person.”

“I see no problem with that,” I mused.

“Neither do I,” remarked Sh’Kar. “Send us the preferred coordinates and we’ll meet you there.” Hugh sent over the coordinates and ended communications “You two, with me and the Admiral. Transporter room 2,” Sh’Kar ordered two ensigns. We made our way to the transporter room and stood on the transporter pads. “Energize,” ordered Sh’Kar. The operator set the controls and beamed us to Hugh’s office. Hugh greeted us with handshakes all around.

“You look great, Cap…Admiral Picard! A Starfleet Admiral?” he realized.

“Things have changed when we last met,” I replied. “This is Captain Sh’Kar of the starship _Enterprise H_.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Captain,” greeted Hugh.

“The pleasure is mine,” reciprocated Sh’Kar. “Forgive me if I sound short, but I understand that there is a frequent anomaly?”

“No need to ask forgiveness,” assured Hugh. “We would like this matter dealt with as quickly as possible. If you would follow me.” Hugh led us out of his office and into the city that made up the Capital of New Unity. It was…intriguing…to see Borg acting as they did before assimilation. Still, there wasn’t an aura of menace that usually comes with the Borg. “As you can see, in the years since our last encounter with the Federation,” reported Hugh, “we’ve learned to work as individuals and as a group. It has sprouted a new civilization, your charter, if memory serves.”

“Yes, indeed,” I replied. All of a sudden, a blue hole appeared in front of us. “And THAT!” I said.

“That’s the anomaly that plagues us!” exclaimed Hugh. The Borg nearby were clearly scared.

“I don’t understand,” muttered Sh’Kar. “When you contacted Starfleet, you said it was in orbit.”

“It WAS,” replied Hugh. “This is the first time it’s ever been on the planet.” At that point, something seemed to go through. It looked like a man. I feared the worst.

“Q, if this is your doing…” I growled, wishing it weren’t. That was when the figure tossed a man through. The man that was tossed was the same member of the Q Continuum I frequently encounter. He appeared to be in a lot of pain.

“Picard…run!” croaked Q.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen!” laughed the figure. It stepped out of the hole as it closed. The figure was a man made of…well…space. He was made of the blackness of space with stars studding his body. He clapped eyes on me. “Ah, Captain Picard!”

“Admiral,” I corrected. “Are you the one behind the blue holes appearing above New Unity?!”

“I am,” replied the man. “I am Lord Vortech, future ruler of the multiverse and master of Hypertime.”

“You are also terrorizing these people,” snarled Sh’Kar.

“I’m sorry, bumpy head, who are you?” asked Vortech.

“I am Captain Sh’Kar of the _U.S.S Enterprise H_ ,” said Sh’Kar, bristling.

“Ah, a new ship to carry the Foundation Element of this universe!” cheered Vortech.

“Picard,” gasped Q, “don’t let him take the ship!”

“Foundation Element?” I asked. “Multiverse? Hypertime?”

“I’m sure you understand the concept of parallel worlds?” asked Vortech.

“The Federation HAS had encounters with alternate universe versions of ourselves,” replied Sh’Kar.

“Splendid, a frame of reference,” mused Vortech. “Hypertime is like time, only it moves and flows like a river, branching off into tributaries, sometimes rejoining the main line. And, with each universe, there is something holding it together, like the foundation of a building, hence, Foundation Element. The name, _Enterprise_ , is one such Foundation Element. This particular Element can transfer from ship to ship, but still carries the spirit of your universe, your charter. And I WILL have that ship! Terrorizing these mere playthings was needed to get you here!”

“You have committed an act of aggression on a warp-capable civilization and an ally of the United Federation of Planets!” I snarled. “If you do not cease your activities…” My threat was cut short as multiple smaller holes spat out various crew members!

“Ah, that went faster than I anticipated,” mused Vortech. He then activated a device, allowing a viewscreen to come up. The man he was talking to was in some sort of black armor and large helmet. He was on the bridge! “Ambassador Hell, I trust everyone is off the ship?” asked Vortech.

“Indeed, sir,” called the man. “Every single inhabitant of this vessel is now on the planet. The _Enterprise_ is ours. All we need is a way back.”

“I’ll be up there shortly,” answered Vortech. “Is Engineering taken?”

“The entire ship is ours,” reported Ambassador Hell.

“Get off of my ship!” boomed Sh’Kar.

“Or what?” asked Ambassador Hell. “You’ll fight me?”

“I’m giving you the choice to get off my ship of your own free will,” growled Sh’Kar.

“Careful,” I warned.

“Why would I do that?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“So you don’t die in the explosion,” replied Sh’Kar. “I refuse to let Federation technology fall into enemy hands!”

“What explosion?” asked Ambassador Hell. Sh’Kar looked at me, revealing her intent. So new, yet so determined.

“Computer, this is Captain Sh’Kar of the _U.S.S. Enterprise_. Destruct Sequence 1, Code 1, 1-A,” she ordered.

“Vocal patterns not recognized,” reported the computer.

“What?!” roared Sh’Kar.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t block vocal access to the ship?!” asked Ambassador Hell.

“Splendid! Beam me up!” called Vortech. Vortech was beamed up and appeared next to Ambassador Hell. “I know you don’t have the capability to do so, but do NOT attempt to follow me. I have more power than Q over there.” We then saw the _Enterprise_ leave through a large portal. Sh’Kar howled, the totality of her anger reverberating across the planet. Someone is playing a larger game, someone that terrifies people like Q.


	55. Chapter 55

Everything was set. Our teams assembled in the Gateway room. I was giddy with excitement. Lacey kept a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. Batman didn’t understand why I was excited. “Come on, Batman, don’t tell me you never saw a _Godzilla_ movie!” I giggled.

“I wasn’t pleased by the lizard,” he rasped. “Why would a mutant iguana want to stomp around Manhattan?”

“Not Zilla! Godzilla!” I protested. “Your first introduction to the _Godzilla_ franchise was the 1998 movie?!”

“Why would Alfred let you watch that?!” asked Lacey. Batman rolled his eyes…I think…they’re just white holes! In any case, I led the way and we went through the rift to arrive in Tokyo! I looked up to see if any monsters were stomping around yet. …Nothing. Not a single scale of the big guy.

“Aw,” I moaned. I found a newsstand and paid for the paper. The man gave a grin as I looked through for any sighting of Godzilla.

“One of his fans?” he asked. “I never understood why some kids would like him, considering he’s destroyed Japan numerous times.”

“He’s also saved our people,” I countered.

“At the cost of trillions in terms of property damage,” argued the newsstand owner. He then moved his gaze somewhere else and looked on in fear. “Er, you might want to leave!”

“Why?” I asked. “If it’s a bad guy, I can stop him.”

“Not this one!” yelped the owner. He then got out at least 10,000 Yen. A well-dressed man came up. His eyes gleamed and he cracked a friendly smile.

“Ah, that’s right, it’s payday, no?” remembered the man. He took the money. “Interesting that you were so prompt, still, pleasure doing business with you.” He then saw me and my team. “Ah, new citizens? Good. 10,000 Yen every 2 months.”

“For what?!” I asked.

“A protection racket,” guessed Batman. “Specifically, protection from you and your goons.”

“Goons?!” snapped the man, feigning offense. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, that’s just mean to call my employees ‘goons’. Just for that, 30,000 Yen a month so they can get proper restitution from you insulting them.”

“There’s a saying in America,” I replied. I was quoting from _The Three Stooges_. “Millions for defense, but not one penny for tribute!”

“Are…you sure…you want to go down that path?” asked the man as he cracked his knuckles.

“I’m not afraid of a mere mobster!” I hissed.

“Careful,” warned Batman.

“Mobster?” asked the man. “No, monster.”

“Yeah, you’re a hulking man, but I’ve taken down bigger,” I boasted.

“Really?” quizzed the man, not believing me. “When?”

“A giant elephant monster for starters,” I replied. The guy probably wouldn’t know an Oliphaunt if it sat on him. I drew out my i.d tag. “You should be small potatoes compared to what I’ve faced.”

“What are…potatoes?” asked the man.

“…Starchy, root vegetable?” I ventured.

“Your words make no sense,” sighed the man. He then raised a gloved fist.

“Henshin!” I announced as I ducked. I then rolled and went through the armor circle, becoming Kamen Rider Royal. The man was surprised.

“Impossible!” he breathed.

“Impressed?” I asked. He then smirked.

“You’re more than meets the eye,” he said. He then grabbed me, Lacey, and Batman. “Let’s see what you’re made of.” He then jumped to the top of a building and threw us down on the roof. “Away from prying human eyes,” remarked the man. He got into a fighting stance. I drew my sword and leveled it at the man. This was no ordinary human. The guy charged. Foolish error, I had a sword. I slashed across the guy’s face.

“Give up?” I asked.

“Hardly,” laughed the man. His face had no wound!

“Okay, I KNOW my sword made contact!” I yelped.

“It did,” remarked the man.

“Guys, use whatever force necessary to bring him down, but do NOT kill him! I want answers!” I ordered. Batman and Lacey nodded. Lacey then got ready.

“Henshin!” she announced. I then saw her transform and become Kamen Rider Apocalypse. She then set her belt’s dial to a scythe-like symbol.

“Death Scythe!” called the belt. Apocalypse then chopped into him. He flinched but knocked her off. I saw the wounds stitch themselves up and heal with no scar tissue.

“Nice try!” laughed the man.

“Okay, at worst, you should be paralyzed in pain!” protested Apocalypse.

“Oh, it hurts, believe me!” growled the man.

“All right, that’s it!” I snarled. I then grappled with the man. “Who are you?!” I then got his i.d tag. “Well now,” I chuckled, “let’s find out.” The man was confused. I then swapped my i.d tag for his. The announcement of the Steel Change surprised me.

“SpaceGodzilla Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“What?!” I yelped. The wardrobe changed my armor. I could see something on my shoulders from my peripheral vision. I looked down my front to see a red abdomen and navy-blue armor. I felt a tail from the base of my spine and something was going up my back. I felt around my helmet to find a horn on top. I then proceeded to whack the guy’s fedora off to find the same horn. He seemed to panic.

“No! Give it back!” he cried. All of a sudden, something was swarming us! They were air drones with weapons.

“SPACEGODZILLA! FREEZE!” yelled one of the drones. “SURRENDER! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!”

“Damn you!” roared the man. He then punched the roof, making crystals grow, and chucking three of them at our heads, making us black out.

* * *

Wind brushed past my face, waking me up. It must have been the AC as, when my vision cleared, I saw walls. I felt something constricting me below my shoulders and glanced down, hoping to see something to kick away. No such luck as I was trapped in crystal. “Er, this isn’t Jennamite, is it?” I asked, worried that I was trapped in _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ ’s world instead of my intended giant monster infested destination.

“I don’t know what this ‘Jennamite’ is,” hissed a voice, “but I can assure you it isn’t that.” A figure stepped out of the shadows. I heard groans of awakening and saw Batman and Lacey shake their heads clear. Lacey then got a good look at the figure.

“Oh, hi, evil mutant mobster!” she quipped. “…Wait, I’m probably still dizzy from the flying crystal at my face, but did Megumi’s belt just call you SpaceGodzilla?”

“It did,” replied the man. I was confused.

“Gotta say, SG, you’re looking a little shorter than I remember,” I remarked.

“Only thanks to you apes causing my decreased height!” snarled the apparent Godzilla Space Clone turned human.

“I’m…not up to speed,” I answered. “How are you human?”

“Human after a fashion,” replied SpaceGodzilla. I then noticed that the monster’s signature shoulder crystals were poking through the jacket he was wearing.

“So, what happened?” I asked.

“Given that you’re not from our universe, I think explanations are in order,” mused SpaceGodzilla.

“What?!” I yelped.

“Tell me, where are your belts?” asked SpaceGodzilla. I then looked down and tried to find it as best I could, given that I was stuck in crystals that messed with my vision.

“On that table!” called Batman. Lacey and I turned to see my Supreme Vortex Driver and Lacey’s Apocalypse Driver being dissected! The man doing the dissecting was in leather, had cybernetic hands, and I saw a red visor over his eyes when he turned to SpaceGodzilla.

“Confirmed,” reported the man. “These people are extradimensional.”

“Thank you, Gigan,” replied SpaceGodzilla. At that point, Lacey and I started laughing. “And, WHAT, may I ask, is so funny?” asked SpaceGodzilla.

“You got the Cyborg Space Chicken on your side?!” I howled in laughter. Gigan then fiddled with the controls on his arms and the hands were replaced with the hooks he was known for. He slashed across my face.

“Keep laughing,” he hissed.

“I don’t fear you!” I snarled. “You’ve proven to be a coward!” He slashed across my face again.

“And YOU, ape, are proving to be a major annoyance!” growled Gigan.

“Gigan, enough,” commanded SpaceGodzilla. Gigan backed off and used a hook’s tip to press a button on his arm and restore the hands. “Now, explanations about my species current…circumstances.”

“All monsters are human now?” I asked.

“Yes,” replied SpaceGodzilla. “The humans’ top geneticists had discovered that they could remove certain base pairs from our DNA. I say certain base pairs, because they also discovered that some monsters, like Anguirus, cannot survive without the necessary base pairs, M-base being chief among them. The United Nations saw a way to weaponize it and lured us to an all-out slugfest which they took advantage of and removed those base pairs that gave us our appearance. We were, for all intents and purposes, human. However, they didn’t count on the fact that those same base pairs they couldn’t remove determined our powers. They eventually contained us and instituted the Kaiju Human Act. It was designed to keep tabs on all monsters turned humans. The drones are to keep unruly Kaiju-men, as Japan and, eventually, the rest of the world has called us, in check. Dangerous Kaiju-men, like myself and Godzilla, are on a more active watch while others, like that genetic accident of a butterfly…”

“MOTHRA’S A MOTH!!” I shouted.

“Whatever,” dismissed SpaceGodzilla. “Kaiju-men like her are gainfully employed. She, herself, is working as a liaison with the United Nations. Why she scrapes to you apes when she has unbelievable power is beyond my comprehension!”

“Because she actually gives a damn about us!” I snarled. I then noticed that the room had gotten darker. I looked down to see my prison lose its luster. I wiggled a bit and the crystals shattered. I then freed Lacey and Batman and we got into a brawl with the two monsters turned humans. Lacey and I gathered up our currently disassembled belts and we took off like Battra out of Hell if I may mangle the expression. We escaped some sort of bunker and were accosted by the JSDF, the Japan Self-Defense Forces, our united military forces. “Er, you’ll forgive us if we don’t put our hands up!” I quipped. The commanding officer, an elderly man, snapped his fingers and pointed to a soldier. The soldier grabbed some sort of scanner and ran it over us. He concluded scans after a minute while I looked back to make sure SpaceGodzilla and Gigan weren’t following us.

“They have the same bases to their chromosomes as us,” reported the soldier. “They’re all human.” The commanding officer waved us over.

“Gladly!” I thought as we took up their offer. I then heard footsteps, heavy ones, and whirled to see SpaceGodzilla and Gigan come out.

“These humans aren’t worth it,” boomed the commanding officer. “Take some advice from someone who was led down that path and cease this nonsense!”

“This does not concern you!” roared SpaceGodzilla. He generated crystals and threw them at the commanding officer. He jumped high for any human and landed in front of the two Kaiju-men.

“I can’t let you hurt them in your pointless quest to make us the only life-form!” declared the man.

“Ghidrah, it’s not up to you anymore!” shrieked Gigan. The man, Ghidrah, as he was called, then revealed his bat-like wings, his twin tails, and elaborate hand shapes. They looked like Eastern Dragon heads. He then gave off a roar that only one Kaiju could roar, the roar of a flying hydra monster!

“King Ghidorah!” I breathed. “He’s here!” SpaceGodzilla and Gigan then gave off their monster roars and charged at King Ghidorah! Ghidorah then fired electric blasts from his hands at Gigan. Gigan took the brunt of it, then activated his hooks, charging in and slashing at Ghidorah. SpaceGodzilla then generated crystals and fired on the soldiers. “That’s it!” I snapped. “Hen…SHIMATTA!”

“Oh yeah, our belts were taken apart,” sighed Lacey.

“There IS another option,” mused Batman.

“Bad idea!” I countered, getting where Batman was going. “Tora-Onna will put the soldiers in a panic. I’d rather keep that side in reserve.”

“Well, if you’re not gonna fight, I am!” rasped Batman as he decked Gigan. Gigan didn’t like that as he fired his harpoon cables at Batman. Batman rolled out of the way and Gigan’s harpoons buried themselves in the ground.

“What are you waiting for?!” asked Lacey as she snapped her fingers and changed her outfit to another one. This one had a reasonable skirt and blue petticoat size, a shirt with white fluff around the neck and arms, the skirt sporting white fluff at the hem and waist, purple tights, black, fingerless, forearm length gloves with the same white fluff at all openings, and black boots with a white strap and white fluff around the mouth of the boot. Her foot smashed into SpaceGodzilla’s crown. He started clutching it in pain.

“Should have hit somewhere else!” he snarled. His dorsal plates glowed, and the deadly Corona Beam came streaming out of his mouth. We rolled out of the way and made a run for it towards the soldiers.

“This is nuts!” I called.

“Will you make with the stripes already?!” snapped Batman.

“Why will you not listen to your friend?” asked a strange voice. It sounded like two women talking at once. I looked around but couldn’t find the source. “Down here!” called the voices again. This time, I found the source on the jeep’s wheel well. There, at their full height of 21 centimeters, dressed as island priestesses, were the Shobijin (Small Beauties), or the Cosmos, as some people address them. “Will you not assist your friends and use your monster form?” asked the Shobijin.

“Are you two nuts?!” I protested. “That’ll cause a panic among the people!”

“Is it the people you’re afraid for, or yourself?” asked the Shobijin. I then heard a loud chirp. Everyone looked up to the sky to see an island goddess with large moth wings, blue insect eyes, and a pair of fuzzy antennae on her forehead. She landed with grace and glared at SpaceGodzilla and Gigan, particularly Gigan. The wings folded around her like a cloak.

“Hello, Gigan,” she said softly. “I thought I made it clear to you that this planet is not to have you on its surface.”

“Like I’m gonna listen to a glorified bug that has to lay two of herself!” shrieked Gigan.

“Hey! Don’t be dissing Mothra!” I snapped.

“Thank you,” said the woman softly. She then put on a business manner. “SpaceGodzilla, Gigan, in the name of the United Nations and the Kaiju Human Act, you are under arrest for assaulting humans with intent to kill! We can do this the easy way, or the hard way!”

“We do not fear you!” declared SpaceGodzilla.

“You should,” warned Mothra. She unfolded her wings and started flapping them. A golden powder littered the area. SpaceGodzilla and Gigan started getting drowsy, then fell flat on their faces, snoring. Mothra slapped handcuffs on them and they were thrown in an armored truck. Mothra then turned to King Ghidorah. She gave a smirk.

“…They should fear you?!” asked King Ghidorah.

“I have sleep powder that can last for a hundred years,” answered Mothra. “Not a small nap to wake up from. Now, shall we head to base?” She invited us to her jeep, which we accepted.

* * *

The base we were taken to was a large one. The military welcomed us warmly. Mothra seemed to be a popular Kaiju-man. She reciprocated the welcome and led us to a room once we had a moment. Ghidorah followed us after SpaceGodzilla and Gigan were locked up. “As you can guess,” answered Mothra, “I’m Mothra, Guardian of Infant Island and friend to these two.” She gestured to the Shobijin on her desk. “And the man behind you is King Ghidorah.”

“Yes, I got that,” I replied. “I’m Megumi Hishikawa. This is Lacey Thanatos and Batman.”

“Hello!” called Lacey.

“Good to meet you,” rasped Batman.

“Now, pardon my asking,” I interjected, “but, didn’t King Ghidorah try and destroy this planet once upon a time?”

“Yes, and then protected it alongside Mothra and Baragon when Godzilla was possessed by the souls of Japan,” recalled Ghidorah.

“Being humanish has allowed King Ghidorah to understand the humans,” continued Mothra. “Now, a question for you. The data we recovered from SpaceGodzilla and Gigan said that you weren’t from our world.”

“And that data is, sadly, correct,” I replied.

“So, multiverse theory became multiverse principle,” mused Mothra.

“You’re familiar with the multiverse?” asked Batman.

“Despite appearances,” replied the Shobijin, “Mothra is familiar with the basics in science.”

“I’ve worked with Kiryu (Machine Dragon) a few times,” replied Mothra.

“Kiryu?” asked Batman.

“He’s mainly known as the current Mechagodzilla,” explained Mothra. “And we’re having a problem with him.”

“Has he gone rogue?” I asked.

“No, thankfully,” replied Ghidorah. “He currently lacks the mental power to do so.”

“Eh?” I quizzed.

“Follow me,” said Mothra as she placed the Shobijin on her shoulder. We all left the room and headed to where the Kaiju-men under her watch dwelt. It was a large room with a TV screen taking up the entire wall, some gaming systems, and a bank of computer consoles. I could swear I heard some childish laughing. I turned around to see a humanoid robot in silver, a helmet covering a mouth, spines running down the back, and yellow eyes and a tail. The robot had a childish expression. He was running around a pole with his other hand out and whapping a powerfully built man repeatedly. The sight made me clamp my mouth shut so my squee wouldn’t deafen everyone. The man had maple leaf spines, a tail, amber eyes, and claws on his fingers and toes! It’s him! It’s the King of the Monsters! The robot’s hand repeatedly whapping him was annoying him.

“Er, is that…Kiryu?” I muttered. The robot then laughed.

“Hey! Pull my finger!” he laughed. Something was seriously wrong.

“If only that were his normal brain talking,” snarled Godzilla. “Then I would get some satisfaction of hitting him!”

“I don’t…” I muttered.

“Kiryu has a primary and secondary computer like his large body’s pilots and Godzilla’s brains,” explained Mothra. “The primary brain handles the advanced cognitive functions while the secondary brain handles the basics.”

“How basic are we talking about?” I asked.

“It makes Megalon look like a genius,” growled Godzilla.

“So, what happened to the more advanced brain?” asked Lacey.

“Someone took it,” replied Ghidorah. “And…”

“You don’t know who,” guessed Batman.

“Happened to you before?” asked Mothra.

“More times than I can count,” remarked Batman. “Mind if I take a crack at finding it? I’ve had some experience finding missing computer brains.”

“Knock yourself out,” offered Ghidorah. Batman took over a console and started his search.

“Megumi, a question,” called Lacey as she summoned her usual school outfit. The Kaiju-men were startled.

“How can she move in that?!” whispered Godzilla to Mothra.

“I want to know myself,” muttered Mothra.

“What happened during the battle?” Lacey hissed to me. “You didn’t use Tora-Onna!” In all honesty, I should have figured THAT question would be asked.

“The Shobijin got it right,” I replied. “I AM afraid of Tora-Onna.”

“Why?” asked Batman as he worked.

“That…THING…is alien to me,” I gulped.

“But, you worked so hard to get her under control!” countered Lacey.

“I can vouch for that,” confirmed Batman.

“Tora-Onna was brought under Shocker Rift control, remember?” I reminded.

“You were told to snap your mother’s neck,” countered Batman. “You then disobeyed, snapped her handcuffs, and then proceeded to make Hiro blow up.”

“Guys, that thing where I was walking towards my mother,” I argued, “that was me about to obey Hiro. He’s got a grip on my mind, somehow, and staying in human form as long as possible is the best way to detain that grip.”

“That’s the problem with you humans,” scoffed Godzilla. “You spent so much time trying to deny the animal part of your brain that you forgot the advantages that part brings in combat.”

“Hey, don’t be hating on humans,” called a voice. Godzilla tensed up.

“Mothra, you didn’t ask for H.E.A.T to swing by, did you?” he asked.

“We need Dr. Tatopoulos’ help,” replied Mothra.

“I will NOT work with that tuna eating Yankī!” (a name the Japanese use for their delinquents) roared Godzilla.

“Who’s a delinquent?!” snarled the voice. We saw an American Kaiju-man come into view. He had spines that curved towards his head and…oh Lord…he’s wearing a Yankees hat! He was accompanied by a brunette man, a red-headed woman, a raven-haired woman, a heavy-set, bearded blonde man, and a Hispanic man. A wheeled robot came up.

“And the aforementioned Yankī arrives,” growled Godzilla. The American Kaiju-man, Zilla, from what I could see, snarled.

“And he’s a Yankees fan, why not!” I sighed. “Yankees suck! Go Red Sox!”

“You Sox fans are just jealous that the Yankees are better!” roared Zilla.

“Zilla Tatopoulos!” warned the brunette man. Zilla subsided like a child would with an irritated parent. The man then turned to us. “Please excuse my son, he can be a bit hot-headed. I’m Dr. Nick Tatopoulos.”

“I’m Dr. Elsie Chapman,” introduced the red-head.

“Dr. Mendel Craven,” answered the portly man.

“Randy Hernandez,” greeted the Hispanic man.

“Monique Dupre,” said the raven-haired woman, coldly. She spoke with a French accent.

“Wait, is that Batman?!” yelped Randy.

“The very same,” I replied. “I got him from his universe. I’m Megumi Hishikawa and this is Lacey Thanatos.”

“Hello!” called Lacey.

“What brings you here?” I asked.

“We got word that you guys needed help finding Kiryu’s brain,” answered Nick.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” rasped Batman. “If there’s a technical person on your team, I would appreciate the help.”

“That would be Randy and myself,” answered Mendel. They sat down next to Batman and started work.

“So,” muttered Monique, “Mechagodzilla Mark III is missing his brain? When were you going to tell us?”

“It was going into the report,” assured Mothra. “We’ve just been…”

“Busy, yeah, the G.D.F is always busy,” interrupted Zilla. “But you guys are usually nice enough to tell the Kaiju-men Watch Committee when the report is delayed due to something coming up.”

“Bureaucracy is more important than protecting the apes?” asked Godzilla.

“No,” answered Ghidorah. “Zilla has a point, it WAS a lack of professional courtesy.”

“I’m sure it can be rectified easily,” I mused.

“True, but it’s still annoying for both parties,” replied Zilla. “H.E.A.T’s been busy too. We’re trying to find Ts-eh-Go, the mutant Scorpion. He’s busted out of Kaiju Max, our top Kaiju-men prison.”

“If someone like him can break out,” growled Godzilla, “then it just proves that rehabilitation is the worst idea. Perhaps we should get rid of a certain pair of Kaiju-men in our hold.”

“We are human to a certain extent,” chirped Mothra. “Thus, we are subject to human laws. That includes ALL Kaiju-men having a fair trial.”

“Those two have tried to destroy our world!” snarled Godzilla.

“Killing is the easy way out,” hissed Batman.

“Not one of you nitwits!” roared Godzilla. “The only way to ensure your enemies’ defeat is their destruction!”

“Which begets more enemies,” countered Batman.

“I…kind of…have to agree with Big G here,” sighed Zilla.

“Zilla,” protested Nick.

“You didn’t object when I roasted Queen Bee!” snapped Zilla.

“Queen Bee?” I asked

“A Mutated Queen Bee,” explained Mendel. “It was terraforming a resort to make room for her hive. Zilla roasted her by…AHA!”

“What?” asked Godzilla.

“Found it!” called Mendel.

“You…found it?!” said Godzilla in disbelief.

“Kiryu’s brain?” I asked.

“It uses an algorithm similar to my Bat-computer,” remarked Batman, “albeit, more advanced. The G.D.F makes good hardware and software. His brain is located somewhere in geostationary orbit around Osaka.”

“We’ve been trying to find it for months!!” snapped Godzilla.

“And this is why you should trust H.E.A.T,” boasted Nick.

“How are we going to get up there?!” asked King Ghidorah. “Fly?!”

“Did the winged Hydra monster say that?” I muttered.

“Neither he nor Mothra can get there,” answered Godzilla. “It’s too high.”

“The air is thinner up there,” supplied Mothra.

“But King Ghidorah flew through space!” I recalled.

“They’re part human,” reminded Lacey. “They need oxygen as much as we do.”

“Wait, there IS the _Gotengo_ ,” recalled Zilla.

“The _Gotengo_! Of course!” cheered Mothra. “And I know who to call!” She used a console and dialed a number. There was a dial tone for a few seconds, then a girl appeared on the screen. She had long, wavy, green hair adorned by a rose on the left side, a leafy green strapless dress, some pinkish red markings on her collarbone, long, green opera gloves with a slight vine appearance in the fingers, and tendrils with mouths around her workspace. I could guess who she was quickly.

“Biollante?!” I yelped. “But she’s an enemy!”

“WAS an enemy,” corrected Godzilla. “That human’s soul helped her settle things after our last battle.”

“So, Erika’s back?” I asked.

“Er, yes and no,” remarked Biollante. “I’m still a new life-form with my own feelings and experiences, but I remember Erika’s. Does that make sense?”

“Perfectly for me,” replied Lacey. Biollante arched an eyebrow. “I’ve dealt with dead things like that,” elaborated Lacey.

“She’s from another universe where the dead and living go to school together,” I explained. The explanation satisfied Biollante but was replaced by confusion at seeing me and Batman.

“They just helped us find Kiryu’s brain,” replied Mothra.

“Oh, thank you!” squealed Biollante with a big, fat grin. “Where is it?!”

“It’s in geostationary orbit around Osaka,” reported Mothra. “Can you get us the _Gotengo_?”

“Ooh,” winced Biollante. “That’s a problem. The _Gotengo_ was decommissioned two months ago.”

“WHAT?!” we all yelled.

“Hold on!” called Biollante. “I didn’t say getting up there was impossible, just that you can’t use the original _Gotengo_. After the original was decommissioned, the UN made a new one and had Admiral Douglas Gordon in command of that ship. I’ll just call up the Admiral and we’ll get you up there.” She then stood up and I realized that, instead of human legs, she had four, large, trunk-like, greenish roots for movement. She turned and flicked a switch behind her, calling up a man of European stock.

“Biollante,” grunted the man. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Hi, Admiral Gordon! We found Kiryu’s brain!” cheered Biollante. “Mothra and her friends need the _Gotengo-A_.”

“Just point me in the right direction and I’ll be there,” replied Admiral Gordon. “Gordon out.” The transmission ended and Biollante turned to us with a grin as bright as her food source.

“Well, looks like you guys get to rescue a brain!” giggled Biollante. “Bye!” She terminated communications.

“…Siblings,” muttered Godzilla.


	56. Chapter 56

We made our way to a landing pad in two hours. The new _Gotengo-A_ looked like the one in _Godzilla: Final Wars_ but was a little trimmer. Admiral Douglas Gordon, I still remember him as a Captain, came out to meet us as well as Biollante. She saw Zilla, ran towards him, and hugged him, wrapping all four legs around him. Zilla reciprocated, earning a raised eyebrow from Godzilla. “Biollante? Explanations?” he asked.

“We’re dating,” replied Biollante. Godzilla’s eyes went wide.

“Er, Biollante, could you excuse us for a sec?” he hissed. Biollante sensed what Godzilla was gonna do.

“Be gentle with him, all right?” she requested as she released Zilla. Godzilla then slowly advanced on him with a disarming smile. Zilla gave a nervous grin and a small wave. Godzilla dropped the grin and hoisted him above his head.

“Break her heart and I boil yours!” snarled Godzilla. He was then grabbed by the tail and pulled backwards to fall on his face. Biollante had released her leg’s grip on his tail.

“In what way was that gentle?” she hissed.

“So, you have the coordinates?” asked Admiral Gordon.

“We do, indeed,” answered Mothra. “I’ll give them to your navigator.”

“Excellent,” grunted Admiral Gordon. “Let’s get going.” We all boarded the _Gotengo-A_ and made ourselves comfortable.

“You know,” I pondered aloud, “what would Kiryu’s brain be doing in geostationary orbit?”

“Good question,” replied Admiral Gordon. “Maybe…” the alarm interrupted him. “Report!” he shouted to Tactical.

“We have an intruder on board!” reported Tactical. “It’s in the cargo hold!”

“What is it doing?!” I asked.

“Just walking around!” replied Tactical.

“Security! Cargo hold, on the double!” barked Admiral Gordon. My team and the Kaiju-men joined him as we made our way to the cargo hold. On the way, Batman chose this opportunity to talk.

“Tora-Onna would help,” he suggested.

“Out of the question,” I shot down.

“You’re being absurd!” snapped Batman.

“I can’t scare these people!” I replied. “Besides, X-PO told me that the belts have self-repair functions.”

“How long?” asked Batman.

“That, he didn’t say,” I answered. Our conversation was cut short as we arrived at the cargo hold. The intruder was surrounded.

“Hands in the air!” barked Admiral Gordon. The intruder turned and faced him. It was a Japanese woman in her late 40’s. She wore a dress similar to my old princess one, but in red and gold, and she wore my crown.

“About time!” she griped. “You guys came later than I remember.”

“Lady, who are you?!” asked Admiral Gordon.

“Obaa-san,” (Grandmother) I interjected, “we need some questions answered.”

“Watch it!” snapped the woman. “I’m still in my late 70’s. My 30 something twin daughters don’t have children yet.”

“Late 70’s?!” I asked. “Lady, you look like you’re in your late 40’s!”

“Oh?” she asked. “I aged more gracefully than I remember.”

“Lady, who are you?!” I hissed, repeating Admiral Gordon’s question.

“Take a look, a deep look, Queen Megumi Hishikawa,” answered the woman. Wait, what?

“You know my name?” I quizzed. I then examined her face. Something seemed…familiar. I ran my hand down my nose, she mirrored my movements. I ran my hand across my cheek, she mirrored me again. I then traced an imaginary wrinkle up my other cheek, she did the same! “No!” I gasped. “You’re…”

“Yep,” replied the woman.

“All of it?” I asked.

“Uh huh,” answered the woman.

“Even the wrinkles?!” I asked.

“Yes!” she said hotly.

“You’re me… at 70 years old?” I queried.

“YES!” she confirmed.

“How did you…?” I asked my future.

“Something called a Hyper-time hole,” explained 70-year-old me. “It allows me to go into any point in a universe’s timeline. I just hope this is the point where I made the right decision.”

“On?” I asked.

“My deciding to use Tora-Onna, or rather, you deciding to do so,” answered 70-year-old me.

“Oh no, not you!” I snapped.

“Yes, me!” hissed 70-year-old me.

“Tora-Onna?” asked Admiral Gordon.

“Megumi has a monster form, a mutant tiger cyborg,” explained Lacey.

“And you didn’t tell us?!” roared Admiral Gordon.

“It’s not a side I use frequently,” I answered.

“Well, we need an edge,” insisted Mothra.

“Yes, and I can’t have you just blatantly ignoring that side,” snapped 70-year-old me.

“Well, I can’t just use her willy-nilly!” I snarled. “Now, go back to your time and take that stupid purple hole with you!”

“Purple hole?” quizzed 70-year-old me. She followed my finger and saw the hole above us. “That should have closed,” she muttered.

“Well, you used to be me,” I mused. “What happens next?”

“I don’t remember,” replied 70-year-old me.

“…How can you forget THIS?!” I quizzed as I pointed to the two of us…me…her…whatever.

“Hang on!” protested 70-year-old me. “It’s hardly MY fault! You’re obviously not paying enough attention!” She tossed me a Sonic Screwdriver while she took out a gold scepter with a blue orb on it. “Now, help me reverse the polarity!” she commanded. I switched the Sonic Screwdriver on while she pressed a button that opened the orb and released a blue light. The purple hole stayed. “It’s…not working,” muttered 70-year-old me.

“You’re BOTH reversing the polarity,” rasped Batman.

“Yes, that was the…” I reminded.

“YOU’RE reversing the polarity, then YOU’RE reversing it back,” interrupted Batman. “You’re CONFUSING the polarity.” At that point, someone came through the hole and it closed. The figure dusted itself off. It was an older Japanese woman, in her 90’s by the look, having white hair, a warmer dress, and a cane. She looked around the place.

“Ah, the _Gotengo-A_ ,” she sighed. “That takes me back.” She then saw the two of…me. “Ah! I remember! The points of my life converging!”

“Another me?!” I yelped.

“I’m as surprised as you!” called 70-year-old me.

“Well, to answer the question you DON’T usually ask a lady,” remarked the oldest me, “I was celebrating my bicentennial.”

“200 years!!” I yelped. “You look like you’re in your 90’s!”

“I’ve forgotten how much I’ve stated the obvious,” sighed 200-year-old me. “So, this is the point where the Scaredy-cat and the Ridiculous Queen Mom come together.” Did…I just get insulted…twice over…by me?! “Have you done anything towards your mission?” asked 200-year-old me.

“Well, we’re finding Kiryu’s brain,” I answered.

“And I was telling this nitwit not to be afraid of Tora-Onna,” snapped 70-year-old me.

“Just as I thought,” muttered 200-year-old me. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?!” I said hotly.

“What is your real mission here, hm?” asked 200-year-old me.

“My real…oh, yeah,” I recalled, remembering why I came to this dimension in the first place.

“Heather’s trying to make another Apocalypse Driver!” gulped 70-year-old me.

“Thankfully, you and your team are on the right track,” replied 200-year-old me. “She’s near Kiryu’s brain on the Xilien ship it’s on.”

“What?!” I yelped.

“The Xiliens?!” roared Godzilla. “Those nitwits that controlled a good chunk of monsters?! I’ll roast them!”

“All hands,” ordered Admiral Gordon, “prepare boarding parties! Get weapons online! We’re facing the Xiliens again!”

“Now, what do the Xiliens usually want, hm?” asked 200-year-old me.

“Well, er…” began 70-year-old me.

“A certain resource?” I finally answered. “Like water, or our mitochondria?”

“It’s water again,” replied 200-year-old me. “So, stop stalling and kick Xilien ass!” She then made another purple hole and jumped in!

“Hey!” I called.

“You let her get away!” accused 70-year-old me.

“Did not! That was you!” I protested.

“Girls, PLEASE!” called Lacey.

“Who’s a girl?!” the two of me asked, offended. I like to consider myself as an adult.

“We need a forward boarding party,” replied Lacey. “Who’s leading it?”

“Me!” called the two of me. We then looked at each other. “ME!” We glared at each other for a while.

“Oh, for the love of…!” hissed Batman as he fished out a coin. He handed it to me. I looked on both sides. It was Two-Face’s double-headed coin. I showed it to 70-year-old me.

“Call it, clean or marred?” I asked.

“Marred,” replied 70-year-old me. I tossed it and slapped it to the back of my hand. “Well?” asked 70-year-old me as I looked.

“Bad luck, Obaa-san,” I replied. She bristled at that remark and the tone I used.

“All right,” she sighed. “Just be careful.”

“Careful?” I asked. “I seem to forget when I get to be your age that a Kamen Rider does NOT become one by being careful.” I picked Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Batman, and Biollante. I needed heavy hitters to take out whatever resistance we met. We soon arrived, the Xilien ship taking the form of the saucer that arrived in the Showa Era. Ghidorah clenched his fists. I put my hand on his shoulder. “Easy,” I called. “Wait until we’re inside.” We went nearer and nearer…and nearer…and nearer still!

“Okay, we’re in weapons range right now,” rumbled Admiral Gordon. “Why aren’t they shooting us?”

“Someone asleep at the switch?” asked Lacey.

“That, or it’s a trap,” guessed Batman.

“We’re running alongside the Xiliens’ ship now,” reported Tactical.

“Send out an airlock and get ready to board,” ordered Admiral Gordon. My team got ready and the airlock docked with the ship. We started cutting our way through. Once the metal was cut sufficiently enough, we forced the doorway into the ship. Once the metal cooled, we went in. What I saw, ladies and gentlemen, had to be seen to be believed. Three men were asleep at the console. They were men I had seen on YouTube before! One of the men had a black, bowl style haircut, the second had red, curly hair at the back and sides, but none on top, and the third was a fat, bald man. It was Moe, Larry, and Curly, the Three Stooges! Batman and Lacey saw them and their jaws dropped.

“You were right!” I whispered to Lacey as the Stooges snored. “Three times over, even!”

“What are THEY doing here?!” asked Lacey.

“I’m supposed to be the World’s Greatest Detective,” mused Batman, “and even I don’t know!”

“They must have blundered their way here,” I whispered. I then waved 70-year-old me’s assault team of Zilla, Mothra, Admiral Gordon, and the blundering Kiryu. 70-year-old me saw the Stooges and rubbed her eyes.

“How?!” she whispered.

“Does it matter?!” I asked. “Our assault may go a little more smoothly! To the bridge! We’ll find the Controller there.” We proceeded to the bridge, making sure not to get caught. When we arrived, Heather was there, talking to a Xilien. Well, shouting at, I should say.

“I’ve been doing things for you for a while now and the belt you said you have hasn’t arrived in my hand yet!” she roared. “$5,000! No less!” The Xilien shook his head. “X, you are a criminal! A cheat! Your impure savagery knows no bounds!”

“Hold your tongue, human mongrel,” hissed the Xilien Controller, X, “or these negotiations are concluded in a very messy way. THAT is my final request! The United States’ Federal Gold Reserve is simply the cost of doing business with my people!”

“Doesn’t power mean anything to you?!” roared Heather. “I guaranteed an entire universe for you! But, you will only get it once I have the belt!”

“You told me of the power it has,” replied X. “Which is why I sent you on those tasks, which, for human scum, you did well. You allowed Monster 2-1 and Monster 2-2 to get captured and taken to the G.D.F base. You took Kiryu’s brain, rendering the smartest monster in 15 countries useless. Now, we need valuable materials for an economy. That’s why the price is what it is.”

“I should have hired the Klan!” snapped Heather. “You’re nothing but incompetent filth!”

“No, worm, that is you, not me,” replied X. He turned to one of his men. “I know this requires touching her but get this piece of human garbage into the brig!”

“At once, Controller,” confirmed the man. He grabbed Heather roughly, who spewed thousands of racist phrases at him, the insulting J word being among them. The man just responded with “Shut up, vermin.” They were off the bridge before X found something else to rant about.

“Why aren’t our scanners back online?!” he roared. “Those three should have fixed it an hour ago!”

“That’s your first mistake,” I muttered. I was promptly shushed.

“I can’t understand it, Controller,” remarked a Xilien woman. “They’re supposed to be members of the Scientific Elite!”

“Well, clearly not!” snapped X. “Commander 0-2-9, go find them! Order them to hurry up or be executed!”

“At once,” obliged the woman. We made ourselves scarce as she went through the door. After a few seconds, we heard her wake the Stooges up.

“Gee, sorry, Ms. Xamper,” apologized Moe’s voice. “We were just…”

“I know, I know,” replied the woman, Xamper. “Look, there’s a circuit board. And there’s a computer bank. But, the computer bank is no good without the circuit board. Not one itty bitty bit of good. YOU HALF-WITS! Get to fixing this thing or else!”

“Or else what?!” asked Larry.

“Or else we see if members of the Scientific Elite can run around with their heads cut off!” threatened Xamper.

“Well, fellas,” gulped Larry, “let’s get to work!”

“I think you got something there!” yelped Moe.

“So help me, if you twits mess this up…!” roared Xamper. She didn’t get very far as something clonked her on the head. The Stooges made frightened noises and ran past us and onto the bridge with Xamper in hot pursuit.

“That’s our cue!” I called. “CHARGE!” The Kaiju-men gave off their signature roars as we stormed the bridge. The whole bridge crew was surprised by our entrance and we managed to get into various grappling matches. I managed to tackle X to the floor, shoving theories of how he came back to life to the back of my mind. I then shoved X’s coat over his head.

“What’s going on?!” he demanded as he tried to restore his vision. I then delivered a swift kick in his pants and he tumbled into his chair. He soon got out of his situation and his hair spiked up. He was in his Keizer state!

“Not good!” I yelped. He then delivered several blows to my person. As I hit the floor, I noticed how many bruises and cuts I had. I was outclassed, and I didn’t have a functioning belt! “All right, multiverse, you win!” I shouted to the heavens. “You want Tora-Onna? You got her!” I then felt my muscles expand, a tail came out, my mouth and nose became a muzzle, my human ears shrunk into my head while tiger ears came out from the top, and fur and metal appeared everywhere. My dress had changed into pants, must be Shocker Tech that changed my clothes, and I unsheathed my claws, roaring at Keizer X. We then clashed again, this time the blows were equal. While that was going on, King Ghidorah was fighting Xamper. They matched blow for blow.

“Oh, how I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this to you, Monster 0!” giggled Xamper.

“It’s King Ghidorah!” roared Ghidorah.

“Apologies, ‘Your Majesty’!” mocked Xamper. Ghidorah blasted the woman with his Gravity beams. “You would strike a lady!?” she protested.

“I strike at any evil, gender be damned!” roared Ghidorah. Xamper then round-housed him into the wall.

“Well, I tried,” she sighed. She then fought with greater ferocity. At that point, green gunk landed on her back. It was apparently acidic as she screamed in agony. She face the one who threw that at her. Biollante had taken a different form. She still looked human, but her hair was darker, the rose that usually adorned her hair wasn’t, her fingers looked like the toothy vines she used for attack, and her teeth were more jagged. “Plant Witch!” roared Xamper as the acid sap stopped its effects. Her hair spiked up. It was another Keizer!

“Come at me!” taunted Biollante. Xamper threw Ghidorah at Biollante and the two Kaiju-men crumpled in a heap. They picked themselves up, telling each other to watch it. At that point, Heather came in, holding a laser gun.

“NOBODY MOVE!” she shouted. “I got you J*** covered!” Then, I heard it, the familiar “Nyuk Nyuk!” as Curly flipped a switch. “WHO PUT OUT THE LIGHTS?!” squawked Heather as she took a few shots in the dark, literally. Curly had turned the lights off and we started blundering into each other. Godzilla lit a match.

“Nee-chan! You there?!” he asked before someone snuffed the match and he fired his atomic breath wildly into the ceiling. Curly lit another match.

“Here I am, Moe!” he called before he turned to me. “NYAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAAH!” he screamed before I snuffed the match. I guess I scare people easily. X then activated a Xilien flashlight.

“Careful around here!” he barked before two people decked him. I then found a match and struck it.

“Batman, where are you?!” I asked. Someone grabbed my shoulder. I yelped and punched the guy. It was Batman! “Batman, I’m sorry!” I gasped. Batman accepted the apology and switched the lights on. The Kaiju-men and Admiral Gordon were picking themselves up, Heather and the Xiliens were out cold, my team rushed to my side, and the Stooges had tangled themselves up and were fighting.

“Curly, get your foot out of my eye!” demanded Larry.

“Whose feet are you talking about?!” protested Curly as he bit a hand, making Moe scream.

“Okay, apple-head, you asked for it!” Larry started twisting the foot and screaming in pain. “OW, THAT’S MINE!” cried Larry.

“Get them loose!” I snapped. We all disentangled the Stooges. Moe then turned on Curly.

“That’s my hand, not a ham!” he shouted before smacking Curly on the forehead. “What’s the matter with you?!”

“Hey, let him alone!” protested Larry.

“What are you butting in for?!” snapped Moe. He then held his fist out. “See that?” Larry smacked it down and the fist went in a circle on Larry’s head.

“Gentlemen!” called 70-year-old me. The Stooges looked behind themselves. “I mean you three,” sighed 70-year-old me.

“Oh, us!” replied Moe. The Stooges went over to her. “What can we do for you, Madame?”

“Could you boys tell me how you got here?” asked 70-year-old me.

“Yeah, how did you guys pass yourselves off as Xilien Scientists?” I asked. The Stooges turned and made scared noises. “What’s the matter with you?!” I snapped.

“The fur!” hissed Godzilla. “Lose the fur!”

“What fur?” I asked. I looked myself over and realized I was still Tora-Onna. “Hey! I still feel like me! I don’t need to be afraid of Tora-Onna anymore!” I then reverted to my human state. At that point, a band of light flew onto the bridge and wrapped around my waist. It then died down and formed the Supreme Vortex Driver! I heard Vortoranii yawn.

“That was a nice nap,” she sighed. “What did I miss?”

“You chose NOW to repair yourself?!” I protested.

“Actually, I simply switched that function off while I was dissected,” explained Vortoranii. “I wanted to see how well you fought without a belt and it seems you did pretty well! I was afraid you were using me as a crutch.”

“You could have told me this was a test of my natural abilities!” I snapped.

“That would have broken the test,” replied Vortoranii. “In any case, what ARE you three doing here?”

“Well, we were doing our plumbing business,” answered Moe, “when a blue hole opened under us. We landed in the corridor out there.”

“Then Xamper came up, thinking we were scientists,” continued Larry. “We were about to correct her.”

“Then we saw the guards,” supplied Curly. “So, we were promoted to scientists!”

“And we’ve been trying to fix the ship for a week now,” finished Larry.

“Oh boy,” I sighed.

“Yeah, but the way we wired things, one touch on the controls,” boasted Moe, “and the ship goes crashing down.”

“Let’s hold off on that,” I suggested. “We need to find this guy’s brain.” I indicated Kiryu.

“Ha HA!” laughed Kiryu as he shoved Curly. “Roly poly!”

“What did HE drink?!” asked Curly.

“Must have hit the Mectacoconane too hard,” replied Moe, making up a drink.

“Fellas, let’s find his brain!” declared Larry.

“Where?” asked Moe.

“Well, uh,” stammered Larry.

“Oh, ignorant, eh?!” snapped Moe as he smacked Larry. “Hey, onion-head, where can we find his brain?”

“Well, it, um,” replied Curly.

“Oh, don’t know, eh?!” snarled Moe as he smacked Curly.

“Wait a minute!” protested Larry. “Do YOU know where we can find his brain?!”

“No, what’s it to you?” growled Moe.

“Oh, nothing,” replied Larry. “Just wanted to know.”

“Maybe it’s in that file cabinet,” I suggested. The Stooges started looking in the open drawer.

“Nothing but papers,” muttered Larry. He shut the drawer so hard that it opened the bottom one. It hit his feet. Larry started clutching his feet.

“Stand aside!” declared Curly. He shut the drawer and the middle one opened, going right into his tummy. He started holding it to make the pain go away, then he wagged his finger at the drawer, going “hhhMMMM!!”

“You lame-brains can’t do anything right, can you?!” snapped Moe. “Get out of the way! I’LL show you how to close it!” He shut the middle drawer and ducked down when the top drawer slid open. “See?” called Moe. “That’s using your brain!” He then got up and hit his head on the drawer’s underside.

“Guys!” announced Zilla. He was holding an ovular shaped object, colored in silver. It had some sort of port on the underside.

“That’s Kiryu’s brain!” cheered Biollante. “Zilla-chan, where did you find it?!”

“In X’s coat pocket,” replied Zilla. “I was frisking him for any plans on his person. Let’s install the brain before we crash the ship.” As Mothra and Ghidorah got to work, the Stooges started groaning.

“X had the brain the entire time!” said Larry, exasperated.

“How do you like that?!” asked Curly.

“I DON’T like it,” replied Moe. “And I don’t like this cabinet! But, it’s a matter of principle with me! I’m gonna shut that drawer if it’s the last thing I do!” He slammed the drawer, but Larry and Curly had their hands on top of the cabinet with their fingers going over. The drawer smashed their fingers and slid forward again to smash Moe in the face. As Larry and Curly rubbed their fingers to get rid of the pain, Moe shook his head. “That’s the last thing I’ll do,” he sighed. We then heard a groan. We turned to the source to see Kiryu holding his head.

“Kiryu? Buddy?” asked Zilla. “Pull my finger?”

“…Don’t be infantile!” snapped Kiryu as he swatted the finger away.

“He’s back!” cheered Mothra.

“You know,” teased Zilla, “you’d still be the smartest monster in 29 countries if you’d lighten up a bit!”

“15 countries,” corrected Kiryu. “Why is that so difficult to remember?”

“Whatever!” dismissed Zilla.

“It’s obviously NOT a ‘whatever’ if Kiryu insists you use the right number!” replied 70-year-old me.

“A good chunk of White America in a nutshell,” I remarked.

“HEY!” protested Zilla.

“Kiryu-san,” I continued, “the Xilien ship is under our control, but we can’t risk any powers on Earth trying the Xilien plan of taking our water. These three have wired the controls in a way so we can crash the ship. You might want to hold on to something.” Kiryu nodded and went to brace himself. We all followed suit. “Okay, boys!” I called to the Stooges. “Get this ship out of the sky!”

“She wants us to take over!” cheered Moe.

“What are we waiting for?!” asked Curly. The Stooges started fiddling with the controls. The ship then started turning and falling! The _Gotengo-A_ was following us closely as we made our way to the crash site. When we landed, the Xilien ship was a smoldering wreck. We picked our way out and saw we were near the G.D.F base!

“Success!” cheered Moe as he and his friends shook each other’s hands.

“Congratulations all around,” I praised. I then grabbed Heather by the hair. After checking to make sure she had a pulse, which she did, I shook her awake. She then saw me.

“LET GO!” she barked.

“Nothing doing!” I replied. “You’re coming with me!”

“What about him?” asked Heather as she pointed behind me.

“Nice try,” I said, totally deadpan.

“Er, ma’am,” gulped Kiryu, “I don’t think that was a lame attempt at distraction.”

“What are you…?” I asked. I then saw X right behind the Stooges! “EEEEEEE!” I yelled in terror.

“What song is that?” asked Larry.

“Guys, be careful! He’s behind you!” I warned.

“Who?” asked Moe. X then blew on Moe’s left shoulder. He turned to Curly. “Don’t breathe down my neck! I don’t like it!” X then blew on Curly’s shoulder.

“It’s all right for YOU to do it!” snapped Curly.

“Do what?” asked Moe.

“Breathe down my neck! Onions, too!” clarified Curly.

“You’re crazy!” remarked Moe. Larry then giggled as X blew on his shoulder.

“Stop it! You tickle me!” he protested.

“Who?” asked Moe.

“You!” replied Larry.

“You’re both nuts!” called Moe. X then blew on Moe’s shoulder again. He then grabbed X’s shoulder and realized something. “H-hey, C-C-Curly,” he stammered, “ha-ha-have y-y-you got a l-l-leather coat on?!”

“No,” replied Curly as he looked behind him. He then saw X and put on a terrified face. “But, HE does!” All the Stooges screamed as X drew a sword.

“NOW!” he shouted. “I’M GONNA CUT YOU ALL INTO LITTLE PIECES!” He charged at me and swung the sword. I used a pipe to block it. “YOU INTERRUPTED MY PLANS! YOU KILLED MY CREW! YOU CRASHED MY SHIP! I’M GONNA CUT YOUR HEAD OFF!” I rolled out of the way and instinctively went for my i.d tag, then paused.

“No,” I remarked. “It’s gonna take a monster to bring down a monster like X.”

“Then, stand aside!” said Godzilla. He performed his drop kick and toppled X. X got really mad and started punching repeatedly. Godzilla got away from the man, readjusting his jaw. “Xiliens are similar to humans,” mused Godzilla to X. “The average man can’t make a dent in me, so how did you dislocate my jaw?”

“How is he talking normally?” asked Lacey.

“If he IS similar to humans,” continued Batman, “Godzilla should be slurred after a jaw dislocation.”

“He has something called RG-1 cells,” I explained, “or Regenerator G-1 cells.”

“Judging by the name alone,” guessed Batman, “he can repair damaged tissue at an accelerated rate.”

“Exactly,” I confirmed. “Although, in Japan, we call them Organizer G-1 cells.”

“On the topic of biology,” remarked Godzilla, “on the rare occasion I’m allowed to hit a guy, they crumple in a heap after two punches. How are you still standing?”

“You assume me to be the average Xilien,” hissed X. He went Keizer again and decked Godzilla. Soon, it went into a full-blown brawl. Just then, X’s watch beeped and spat an object out to Heather. She grabbed it and grinned.

“That’s all five!” she laughed.

“What?!” I yelped.

“I finally have the four Apocalypse Dial parts and the belt!” replied Heather. “Apocalypse’s power is mine!” She then got out of my grip and fled through a portal.

“NO!” I screamed, the implications hitting me. If she got all four Dial parts and the belt, I think I can safely say the others failed as well. “DAMNATION!” I shouted.

“Easy, kitty,” assured 70-year-old me.

“EASY?!” I roared, pointing a hairy finger at her. I was turning back into Tora-Onna. “THAT MONSTER JUST TOOK OFF WITH A MEANS TO GET LACEY’S POWER AND YOU’RE TELLING ME TO TAKE IT EASY?!”

“Because it will work out in the long run,” assured 70-year-old me. “Lacey’s DNA is the default.”

“How does that…that…that…that may have been Heather’s biggest mistake yet!” I realized.

“I don’t follow,” remarked Lacey.

“Your DNA is locked into the Apocalypse Driver’s systems,” I clarified. “With a ghost in possession of its power, the device will think it’s you and make your body!”

“That’s right, the Reconstitution Function!” recalled Lacey. “In the event my body gets destroyed!”

“So, Heather’s going to look like Lacey?” asked Batman.

“More like a damaged clone of me,” replied Lacey.

“I guess that’s the reason why my future came to help,” I mused.

“What future?!” roared X as he tossed Godzilla. Godzilla soon steadied himself and got into a fighting stance. “At the moment,” growled X, “I’d say it’s unknown! Like an X-Factor!” Godzilla seemed to be hit with some idea.

“X-Factor,” he muttered. “Unknown…no…no, it can’t be!” X then took off his watch.

“Genetic dampener offline,” reported the watch before X stomped on it. His shoulders then bulked up, his eyes went red, and a tail came out. I then realized what got Godzilla so spooked.

“Monster X!” I realized. X turned towards us with an evil grin. “But…but Godzilla fried you!”

“A bit of me survived and the Xiliens reforged me,” explained X. “I was then placed in cold storage after Controller 0-1-2 was selected! She didn’t find my desire to return here and squash you agreeable, since she found an “innovative and creative” solution to her people’s problem. I was kept locked up the entire time! After breaking out, I took a genetic dampener and hid myself among the Xiliens. Over time, I gathered people to my cause, people dissatisfied with the current condition and wanted to invade Earth. I got us a ship and, well, the rest is history.”

“Yeah, you hired three humans to fix your Youfoe!” replied Larry.

“Youfoe is something that you say to your enemy,” corrected Moe. “THAT was a SAUCER we crashed!”

“Saucer?” asked Curly. “That’s something you put a teacup on!” That prompted a slap from Moe.

“Did you just identify yourselves as humans?!” asked X.

“Yeah, that was your first mistake, believing us!” taunted Moe.

“Guys,” gulped Godzilla, “you REALLY want to stop!”

“What’s the matter with you?” asked Lacey.

“That thing nearly killed me at the end of the Millennium Wars!” replied Godzilla, referring to the events of _Godzilla: Final Wars_.

“And now, we’re right where I need to be,” growled X. “After a little growth spurt, SpaceGodzilla, Gigan, and I will conquer this world and make a new one where humans are nonexistent! A dead rock orbiting an unfeeling sun!”

“That wasn’t our deal!” shouted a voice. We turned to see SpaceGodzilla and Gigan coming out. Gigan had his hooks ready. “I’m supposed to rule this planet,” snarled SpaceGodzilla, “a LIVING planet! NOT A LIFELESS HUSK!”

“Your desires are irrelevant,” dismissed X. “If you will not take this chance, then you and Gigan will have served your purpose. Find another world to rule.” SpaceGodzilla charged at X who back-handed him, then used some sort of remote to bathe himself, SpaceGodzilla, and Gigan in some sort of light. That light…was not good. The Kaiju-men grew, and morphed, and changed, until they were back in their monster forms. Gigan took the appearance he had in Final Wars. Monster X was about to level a building when he got a tail smack from SpaceGodzilla. Gigan then fired his cables and wrapped them around Monster X. He then activated the Buzzsaw and pulled Monster X towards him. The damage was awful.

“I just received word,” reported Kiryu. “We’re to utilize our Kaiju-Riser.”

“Your what?” I asked.

“In the event any evil monster regains their original form,” explained Biollante, “a Kaiju-Riser is to be used to return any good monster to THEIR original form and combat the threat.”

“In other words,” said Godzilla as a primal grin crossed his face, “it’s back to basics!” His grin faded. “Unless the U.N. has something against ME getting into the fight!”

“Are you kidding?” asked Kiryu. “The Japanese delegation wouldn’t go through with the Kaiju-Riser in this instance unless YOU were the one to permanently put Gigan and SpaceGodzilla down.”

“You mean…turn them into ash?!” said Godzilla happily.

“I have their death warrants right here,” replied Kiryu as he tapped his brain. We then heard jets. We looked up to see a pair of fighter jets carrying Kiryu’s big Godzilla-like body. One of the jets then bathed the area in light.

“This is it!” cheered Godzilla as the changes started coming. His mouth and nose became a large snout. His skin was replaced by charcoal grey scales. His eyes moved outwards a little. His pinkies sunk in. His legs became more trunk-like as his mass shifted down a little. He grew up to his full height of 150 meters. Mothra’s head tilted up as it morphed into her monster head. Her arms shrunk in and her legs made up her abdomen. Her insect legs came out and she grew to her full length of 72 meters. Biollante’s arms separated into vines with Venus fly-trap mouths. Her human skin was replaced by layers of green plant matter as her rose wilted. Her mouth extended to crocodile lengths and was filled with teeth! She grew upwards to her height of 120 meters. Zilla hunched over as his lower jaw got bigger and his upper jaw extended. He became covered in charcoal grey scales as his pinkies shrunk in and he became more T-Rex like. He was the runt at a height of 55 meters. King Ghidorah’s arms went over his head as the hands became dragon heads. His middle neck stretched upwards and his head became a dragon one. His legs became trunk-like as he was covered in gold scales and grew to become Godzilla’s height.

“Success!” I called. I shook hands with the Stooges, Lacey, Batman, Godzilla, and…wait a minute. Who did I shake hands with last? I turned to Godzilla and…oh no. Godzilla and I were literally seeing eye to eye! I heard everyone gasp in surprise! We were Kaiju sized!

“I will admit,” muttered 70-year-old me, “I forgot this bit.”

“And we’re complaining…why?” asked Lacey. I opened my mouth, then shut it as I realized there was no reason to complain.

“Quick question,” I asked 70-year-old me, “do I need to use Tora-Onna?”

“Nah,” replied 70-year-old me. “The belts are repaired. You can use your Rider mode.” Godzilla gave a confused grunt.

“You’ll see,” I assured. 70-year-old me and I got our i.d tags out and Lacey got her hand on the dial. I then noticed 70-year-old me had a blue ring around the tag reader in the center of her belt. It looked almost the ring of the Gateway on Vorton, but with eight Keystones instead of five. “Nice belt,” I commented.

“Oh, this old thing?” asked 70-year-old me. “It’s just something you’ll pick up after…never mind, I said too much.”

“All right, then,” I declared. “Henshin!”

“Henshin!” announced Lacey.

“Henshin!” called 70-year-old me. We all then went into our Rider forms.

“What the?!” yelped Moe. Larry jumped into Curly’s arms. The Kaiju made confused noises as well as surprised ones.

“Never mind that,” I replied. Kiryu’s big body’s eyes then started glowing yellow. “Are we all ready?” I asked. Everyone gave confirmation noises. “Then, Godzilla-san, lead the way!” Godzilla stamped his foot and gave a challenge roar. Monster X, Gigan, and SpaceGodzilla heard and gave of roars of defiance. That was the cue as we charged towards the evil Kaiju. They charged at us as well and we met in the middle. SpaceGodzilla quickly made a crystal fortress. The Stooges jumped the crystals and started whacking SpaceGodzilla. Curly managed to smack his snout down. SpaceGodzilla threw the Stooges off of him and he levitated Curly. Curly was calling for help, even when he was placed in a ring of crystals.

“HEY MOE! HEY LARRY!” cried Curly. “I’M SURROUNDED! GET ME OUT!” His hands went through the spaces the crystals made.

“Hold on, kid!” called Moe. “We’ll have you out!” They grabbed his hands. “Ready! Pull! Heave!”

“Ho!” shouted Larry as they pulled.

“Heave!” commanded Moe.

“Ho!” replied Larry as they pulled again.

“Just a second!” called 70-year-old me. “I got this.” She drew out a gold i.d tag! She then swapped i.d tags.

“Harry Potter Steel!” announced her belt in its original voice. The wardrobe closed, then faded to reveal her in armor based off of Harry Potter in his school uniform!

“You visited Harry’s world?!” I breathed.

“Toured Hogwarts!” cheered 70-year-old me.

“Cool!” I called. 70-year-old me drew her sword and pointed it at Curly.

“Take it easy now!” he yelped, fearing the worst.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” chanted 70-year-old me as she swished her sword, then flicked it. She then raised Curly out of the crystal prison. Curly yelped as he came out. His friends then brushed him off.

“Easy kid! Easy!” assured Moe. SpaceGodzilla roared in frustration. He then readied his deadly Corona Beam but was interrupted by Zilla popping out of the ground and sucker-punching him. A light then traveled up Zilla’s spines as he fired green flames from his mouth. It annoyed SpaceGodzilla but didn’t hurt him.

“The shoulders!” I shouted. “Smash the shoulder crystals!” Zilla nodded and started smashing his hands on them. They were cracking, but at a slow rate. The Stooges joined in and accelerated the cracking. Soon, they shattered! SpaceGodzilla roared in pain, then focused his rage on Zilla. Zilla quickly dug a hole and disappeared under the streets. SpaceGodzilla looked around and Biollante took her chance. She fired her corrosive sap and burned him. SpaceGodzilla turned and roared at her, but Biollante gave a roar of defiance. SpaceGodzilla charged but was ensnared by her vines and tossed onto a crystal, impaling him. He gave a dying roar, became light particles, and reassembled in his Kaiju-man form, but with a hole in his chest. SpaceGodzilla was dead. Zilla popped up and joined Biollante in a victory roar.

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” I replied as Gigan took a swipe at me. I ducked but was hit by his laser vision. Randy then leapt onto Gigan’s shoulders and slammed his fist on his head. He then started shaking his hand in pain as Gigan tossed him off. Mothra then grabbed him and flew through the air with him in her grasp. She was gonna throw him into a building, but Gigan took control of the flight pattern and went upwards. He then cut his means of propulsion and put his back to the ground. Mothra was going to be crushed! King Ghidorah helped her out by having his left head chomp on Gigan’s tail. Mothra let go of Gigan as he was thrown to the ground. King Ghidorah was about to fire his gravity bolts when cables wrapped around the left and right neck. Gigan got up and started pulling King Ghidorah towards him, the buzz saw on his front spinning. Gigan has been known as a sadist and a lunatic. If he had human features right now, a wicked grin would be crossing his face. I stepped in and severed the cables with my blade. “Ghidorah! Duck!” I called. King Ghidorah ducked his heads down. “Dai Super Charge!” I announced. As the armor flew, some hit Monster X on the head. The rest hit the Stooges.

“Hey!” snapped Moe. “Why don’t you call your shots?!” Gigan then fired new cables at me, but I grabbed them and started spinning. I spun so fast, Gigan was taken into the air. He was screeching at me.

“What’s that?” I called. “Let go? Okay!” I released the cables and Gigan flew into one of the crystal towers. It crumbled and landed on him, crushing him. He turned into light particles and reassembled into his smaller form, next to SpaceGodzilla’s corpse. Gigan had fallen. “That’s two,” I counted. “Let’s help Godzilla!” Godzilla, Batman, Kiryu, and Apocalypse were all on top of Monster X. He wasn’t taking it well, so we swarmed him. He was a match for us and threw us all off. Batman fired his grapple gun around his legs. Monster X then fell onto his hands. “That was a mistake,” I gulped.

“When is it a mistake to topple a monster?” asked Batman.

“When getting on his hands allows him to turn into a quadrupedal, three headed, winged monster!” answered Apocalypse. Monster X’s arms then turned into trunk-like feet as wings sprouted from his back. The neck elongated as the head became dragon like. Two more heads grew from the shoulders as the wings spread. Monster X had just become Keizer Ghidorah! He fired gravity beams as Godzilla fired his atomic breath. Godzilla’s beam was overpowered as he was blown back. Keizer Ghidorah ran forward and bit down on Godzilla. He was draining him again!

“GET OFF OF HIM!” I roared as I leapt onto Keizer Ghidorah. He flung me off and then flung the drained Godzilla onto me. At that point, everyone shrunk down. We were human-sized again and Keizer Ghidorah was mocking us.

“Look at you all,” he taunted in our heads. “Pathetic ants beneath my feet. Not even the clone and our cyborg could defeat me. It took a maser cannon to charge you, Godzilla. Now, there is none. You have nothing to help you.”

“Not…true!” grunted Godzilla. It was then that I saw orange markings on him. I then remembered his predecessor doing something like this, but not by choice.

“Godzilla, this is all involuntary, right?!” I gulped.

“Oh no, unlike my predecessor,” replied Godzilla. “I purposely put myself in my Burning State.”

“But, that will put you into meltdown!” I cried. “And there aren’t any freezer cannons around to stop you from destroying this place!”

“I have an idea,” assured Godzilla. “Trust me. If the forecast is right…” a crack of thunder interrupted him. “…And it is.” The rain then came down. It was followed by flashes of lightning. “Step back,” advised Godzilla. I did so and lightning struck his spines repeatedly.

“Lightning never strikes him unless…” I then realized his plan. “He’s not turning himself into an atom bomb, he’s turning himself into an EMP blaster!” I said. His spines went white and the orange markings died down. He aimed at Keizer Ghidorah and fired! The electricity and radiation ravaged Keizer Ghidorah as he shrunk down into his Kaiju-man form. It looked similar to King Ghidorah.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” he roared.

“I combined the lightning I attracted and stored with a heart I was putting into meltdown,” answered Godzilla. “I then channeled it like my Spiral Red Atomic Blast. That got me safely out of my Burning State and cooled me off.”

“But, with the resulting radiation…!” cried Keizer Ghidorah.

“You’re now locked in your Kaiju-man form,” responded Kiryu as his humanoid robot body jumped down from his giant one. “Clever move, I need to utilize it.”

“You stupid lizard! I’LL KILL YOU!” roared Keizer Ghidorah. Godzilla gave a grunt as Keizer Ghidorah charged at him. They locked hands and tried to overpower each other.

“Hold on!” cried a voice. Godzilla and Keizer Ghidorah were tossed aside by my 200-year-old self! “You whipper-snappers can’t do anything right, can you?!” she snapped.

“Whipper-snappers?” I protested.

“I always wanted to say that,” sighed 200-year-old me. “Hey, X! I brought someone with me.” She moved aside to reveal a woman in Xilien clothes. Keizer Ghidorah’s eyes went wide.

“No! You didn’t!” he yelped.

“Who’s she?” asked Godzilla.

“Karna!” replied X.

“You bet; it is!” hissed the Xilien woman. “Karna, Controller 0-1-2 of Planet X. I’ve heard about the whole situation from Queen Megumi’s future. It seemed too outlandish, but now that I see the destruction that was wrought, I see otherwise. Godzilla, making an EMP blast like that would have ruptured your heart!”

“Listen, lady,” snarled Godzilla, “I was trying to…”

“Save it,” interrupted Karna. “I know. The genetic jigsaw puzzle here was sore about losing to you after our previous invasion! X, I warned you that an invasion was ill-advised. You ignored me!”

“I will NOT live knowing that a planet and monster that was behind my downfall still exists!” roared Keizer Ghidorah. “If I cannot destroy Godzilla, I will destroy this insignificant rock!”

“I told you, revenge is destructive all around!” shouted Karna. “You could have destabilized the peace we Xiliens finally achieved!”

“Wait, are you just doing this for political gain?” I asked.

“If you wish to paint that kind of selfish picture, then yes,” replied Karna. “We finally terraformed our planet to look similar to yours and now no longer need to scavenge other worlds for resources. Nor do we need to rely on computers to run our lives. This nitwit here hated the fact that our world looked like Earth as it reminded him of his defeat here. So, he gathered other Xiliens that hated the current lifestyle we hold dear and took a ship to settle scores with Godzilla.”

“His existence is unbearable!” wailed Keizer Ghidorah.

“I hear THAT from select humans,” muttered Godzilla.

“Monster X,” declared Karna, “through your act of rebellion, you have proven yourself to be a failure in the cosmos.” She then whipped out a gun and fired a laser at him. His monstrous parts shrunk into his flesh and he was returned to his Xilien form. “You shall remain here, on this world, in a weaker form.”

“No! You can’t!” cried X.

“Godzilla, he’s yours to deal with,” declared Karna.

“Oh, I have something special in mind!” snarled Godzilla. X backed away, scared. Godzilla strode forward, raised his hand…and slapped handcuffs on X! “X, you’re under arrest for assault on humans and unauthorized reversion to your monster form!” declared Godzilla. X was trembling in fury.

“I HATE YOU!” roared X as the G.D.F took him away.

“That was…surprisingly mature of you,” I remarked.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” replied Godzilla. “I only did it because killing a human or Xilien is no challenge.”

“Sure, put on the tough guy act,” I countered. The rain had finally died. “Typical,” I sighed. “We save the day and the weather clears up.” Godzilla turned to the sun and let out a roar of victory.

“Well, we didn’t complete our original objective,” observed Batman. “Let’s get back to Vorton.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “X-PO, we need a rift home.”

“You’re about to see a gloomy sight,” replied X-PO. A portal opened for us.

“You coming?” I asked Godzilla.

“Unfortunately,” rumbled Godzilla, “I must decline. The human I imprinted on, Gojo Azusa, is expecting me after the fight. I can’t forget my mother.”

“Anyone else?” I asked the other Kaiju-men.

“Biollante and I have had too many dates called off,” replied Zilla.

“We’re having one tonight!” declared Biollante.

“I just recently laid my eggs,” answered Mothra.

“I’m still needed in the Kaiju-men Police Force,” replied King Ghidorah.

“And I need an overhaul for both of my bodies,” answered Kiryu.

“Hey, Kiryu,” called a fighter pilot. “As long as you’re smart again, I have a question. With the old Kaiju-Riser, I could make only the Kaiju-men grow, practically every time! If you’re such a genius…!”

“I AM a genius,” snarled Kiryu, “but, I expected more control from your fat fingers!” The pilot looked at his hands.

“They’re proportional to me,” he replied.

“Well, I got the data from your plane’s black box,” snapped Kiryu. “Quit jabbing the controls so hard! The impact sets the Riser function to all organics in the radius of the beam!”

“…Oops,” muttered the pilot. “Sorry.”

“So THAT’S why Godzilla and I could see eye to eye!” I realized. “Well, that was a narrow escape, but I have to take the Stooges back home.”

“Hey, maybe you can tell us about these candies!” called Curly. He had a bag full of something. He fished an object out and was about to eat it! It was a purple stud!

“GIMME THAT!” I snapped as I swiped the bag and stud.

“Don’t be greedy!” called Curly. “There’s plenty for everybody!”

“You twit, you were about to eat money!” I snarled.

“Money?!” yelped Moe.

“Yeah, these are studs, our main currency,” I answered. “Vortoranii, how much is in here?”

“429,000,” counted Vortoranii.

“Putting our new total at…” I started doing some math, “…3,401,000 studs.”

“And, at the least value, a 10 value stud is the equivalent of $500,” replied Vortoranii. “So, at the moment, we have $170,050,000.”

“Wait, we’re millionaires?!” I yelped.

“Yeah, and they can be converted to your universe’s cash,” answered Vortoranii. “Any form of cash, Yen, Euro, Australian Dollar, U.S. dollar, you name it.”

“You imbecile!” snapped Moe to Curly. “You were about to eat money!” He was about to poke Curly’s eyes, but Curly put his hand between his eyes. Moe then slapped Curly, resulting in Curly holding that area, then Moe poked his eyes.

“Hey, let him alone!” protested Larry.

“What are you butting in for?!” snarled Moe. He then smacked Larry’s forehead, the force knocking him into the portal. “HEY, WAIT!” called Moe as he went after Larry. Curly was trying to hit on Mothra. Moe came up behind him. “Grab your ear,” he commanded. Curly did so and Moe yanked on Curly’s arm, dragging him into the portal and following him shortly.

“…Sorry,” I said to Mothra. “Those nitwits hit on any pretty girl.”

“Even if they’re spoken for?” asked Mothra. She showed a ring on her finger. “Like myself, Mrs. Anguirus?”

“Anguirus?!” I yelped. “You married him?!”

“Sure did,” replied Mothra. “He’s living on Infant Island with me.”

“Well, congratulations!” I cheered. “How is…?”

“HEY!” called 70-year-old me. “Everybody else already left! Hurry up!” She was right!

“Oh, crap! Gotta go!” I answered. “I hope we meet again, Godzilla! Maybe we can spar! Sayonara!” I then followed 70-year-old me and the portal shut while Godzilla gave a farewell roar.


	57. Chapter 57

We returned to Vorton, the other teams I sent looking very sorry for themselves. “Heather was in Godzilla’s universe too,” I answered the unspoken question. “She had all the parts.”

“First Vortech, and now this!” wailed Wyldstyle.

“I wouldn’t go off half-cocked,” I assured.

“Neither would I,” replied 70-year-old me. She looked around. “Where’s the old woman?”

“What old woman?” asked Richard.

“The one older than me!” answered 70-year-old me.

“Er, I think she found a way to her own time,” remarked Lacey.

“What, was this lady someone from the future?” asked Richard.

“Yeah, me at 200 years,” I replied. “This lady’s me at 70.”

“70?!” yelped Haitao.

“She can’t be!” protested Joshua.

“And Heather having another Apocalypse Driver will actually work out for us,” commented 70-year-old me.

“HOW?!” asked Haitao.

“We’ll explain later,” I assured. “In the meantime, boys! Boys! It’s time for…where’d they go?”

“Who?” asked Richard.

“Moe, Larry, and Curly,” I explained.

“The Three Stooges?” asked Richard.

“Yeah,” I replied. “They were plucked up from their plumbing business and deposited in Godzilla’s universe.”

“I didn’t see the Stooges,” answered Richard. “All I did was send our new plumbers to fix the leak. Er, that’s plumbers as in pipe working, not intergalactic police officers.”

“What leak? What plumbers?!” I asked.

“There’s a leak in the basement,” replied Richard. “The plumbers looked very familiar. One of them was bald, as big as me, and spoke in a falsettoooooOOOOOH GOD!”

“YOU IDIOT! YOU SENT THE STOOGES TO FIX A LEAK!” I shouted. We ran for the basement while 70-year-old me spoke with the other teams about our adventures there. We bumped into Mario, thank goodness. “Mario, how bad did the Stooges mess up the plumbing?”

“It’s-a crazy!” yelled Mario. “It’s-a getting into the electrical systems! I-a turned on a light and the bulb burst-a with water!”

“How is that…never mind!” I sighed. “After we chase them out of here, do you mind fixing it up?”

“Sure,” replied Mario. “No charge, given that you-a had to deal with idiots.” He then grabbed a pipe wrench and made for the basement. We heard the commotion. “HEY YOU IDIOTS!” roared Mario. “GET OUTTA HERE!” The Stooges made their scared noises and started running around the basement until they ran up the stairs, bowling Richard and I over! Mario followed them and we followed Mario. He chased them into the Gateway room.

“GET THAT PORTAL OPEN!” I ordered. “THE STOOGES ARE GOING HOME!” X-PO opened a portal and Linda, Emily, and I punched the Stooges into the portal. After we made sure they were gone, Mario went to the basement to fix the damage. I then sat down on the Gateway pad as 70-year-old me continued from when the Kaiju-Riser made us grow as well as the Kaiju-men. When she finished, Emily had a wicked grin.

“So, she’s going to get an impure body?” she remarked. She then turned to Lacey. “Sorry, I was just…”

“Save it,” assured Lacey. “I knew what you were going for. I understand.”

“So, where do we go after she starts building the belt?” I asked my future.

“Outside After Academy,” replied 70-year-old me. “Of course, fight at your hardest. You don’t want her finding out until it’s too late for her.”

“Right,” I declared. I then noticed Professor Paradox with two other girls. They were of Japanese descent, but I could see some European traces, red hair and green eyes. I’d say they were twins, given that they looked alike, aside from one wearing a large pink princess gown and the other dressing like she was a film noir detective. “And who are they?” I asked.

“Kaede Hishikawa,” answered the film noir girl in the film noir tone.

“And I’m Kaitlyn Hishikawa! Her twin!” cheered the princess girl in a bubbly tone.

“I think they figured that out,” muttered Kaede.

“Hishikawa?” I asked. “Hiroki, are they relatives?”

“I don’t know! I never met them!” remarked Hiroki.

“You’ll see them again,” assured 70-year-old me. “I remember you in the hospital when they were born.”

“Oh, so I was made an honorary uncle?” asked Hiroki.

“Not honorary, Nee-san,” corrected 70-year-old me. “You ARE their uncle. They’re my daughters.”

“Wait, my kids from the future are here?!” I yelped.

“You’ll make some beautiful kids!” praised Richard.

“You’re gonna help,” supplied 70-year-old me.

“Wait, what?!” yelped Richard. His parents then started glaring at him. “I swear, I never went that far with Megumi!”

“Quit panicking!” assured 70-year-old me. “They’re born after we married!” Richard and his parents then released their breath.

“Thank goodness,” he sighed. “I thought I lost my man card.”

“No, you help raise them,” replied Professor Paradox.

“Wait, if I marry Richard, why do my daughters take my last name?” I asked. “In Japan and in most cases in the US, it’s the wife that takes her husband’s surname.”

“I don’t know,” mused Richard. “I’d want my kids to take the surname of the most powerful family member. If she’s your direct future and not a parallel one, I’d say having your kids take your family name is all right.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” I replied. I wasn’t going to argue that point. “So, anyways, how did your escapades go?”

“Our little trip had a successful secondary mission,” remarked Xiomara. “Sludgiona is back with her people. They’re in the new Tarlax 14 and are hearing tales of her adventures. She’ll be coming here later.”

“So, she’s cured!” I cheered.

“All you need to say is ‘thank you’,” replied Emily.

“Thank you?” I asked. She started singing.

_What can I say except_

_You’re welcome!_

_I’m just an ordinary Demi-guy!_

“Don’t start THAT again!” snapped Richard.

“Sheesh, Aunt Emily’s been like that since the beginning!” remarked Kaede.

“Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” boasted Emily.

“Well, you ARE entitled to be that way,” replied Professor Paradox. “You will be the one who delivers them soon as a…never mind, that’s too much.”

“In any case, congratulations,” cheered Emily. “I hope I get the chance to read to them when they were babies, like I did with Nell.”

“Nell?” I asked.

“Our cousin,” explained Richard. “Emily would read to her a lot when she was a baby. Cutest little thing you’ve ever seen!”

“She was a biter, though,” warned Emily. “Everything went right into her mouth. And somehow, looking at Nell made me think there was gonna be a girl in our family’s future. I somehow figured it was Richard.”

“…What’s THAT supposed to mean?” asked Richard.

“What? Nothing,” replied Emily. “Just had a feeling, that’s all.”

“No, I get it!” snapped Richard. “Your brother’s too much of a wimp to have a son, is that it?! I know that’s how you see it!”

“Oh, my g…ARE YOU FOR REAL??!!” shouted Emily. “You’re such a paranoid fat-head! Emphasis on fat!”

“Well, you always make fun of me, Wide-load!” answered Richard.

“Okay, give me a little credit here, Porky!” snapped Emily.

“EMILY AND RICHARD SAUNDERS! NOT IN FRONT OF GUESTS!” shouted Linda.

“Come on, you two, you’re better than this!” supplied Fred. Emily and Richard subsided and mumbled apologies to each other.

“Wow, never heard Grandma raise her voice at them,” said Kaitlyn.

“Probably too old to put up with it,” said Kaede.

“Moving on,” I said. “Emmanuel, you and Xiomara need to tell us everything.”


	58. Chapter 58

Our destination, Madame Megumi, was at the library, specifically, the basement. Xiomara, Hongo, and I had landed on each other. As we got off of each other, we heard voices. “This is hot, Ray,” called a voice, Egon’s voice, to be exact.

“They’re here?” asked Xiomara.

“Time to catch up with friends,” I declared.

“I don’t understand you, sometimes,” muttered Peter’s voice. “Why do you keep ghost snot?” We turned to bump into the Ghostbusters, sans Winston.

“Bonjour,” I greeted.

“Emmanuel! Hongo! Xiomara!” cheered Ray. “Good to see you! We got a call here that one of the ghosts that escaped is back here.”

“It WOULD happen after Winston took some time off to see family,” griped Peter.

“Listen!” whispered Ray. We stayed silent. “Do you smell that?” Hongo tried to puzzle that out, then gave up. We went through the maze of bookshelves to see the library ghost again! She was talking to Heather. “Two ghosts!” called Ray as he snapped pictures.

“Stop that!” snapped Peter as he smacked the camera down. The library ghost heard us and put a finger to her lips.

“All right, let’s see you boys in action!” whispered Xiomara. She then noticed something. “Er, where are your packs?”

“The Head Librarian was against having our packs here,” replied Egon.

“So, you went to a job unprepared?!” I hissed.

“So, what do we do?” asked Peter.

“Okay, I have a plan,” declared Ray. “I know exactly what to do.” We huddled and heard his plan. They DID have a trap but needed our help. When the plan was outlined, we got into position, ready to transform.

“Rider…” whispered Hongo. We WERE in a library.

“Henshin!” we all whispered. As we changed, we were shushed again.

“Okay! 1! 2! 3! GET THEM!” shouted Ray. The Librarian went scary again as we charged at Heather and her. Seeker and I swapped i.d tags for the Ghost one

“Ghost Steel!” announced our belts.

“KAIGAN! ORE! Let’s go! Kakugo! Go, go, go, GHOST! Go! Go! Go! Go!” called the Ghost Driver’s voice as the wardrobes changed us. The Librarian tried to phase through me, not a chance. I managed to grapple her and spin her around, flinging her into the bookshelves. She then regained control for a moment until Heather was thrown into her by Seeker. They squabbled for a sec until Heather noticed something and fled. The Librarian, on the other hand, was caught in the trap under her and sucked in. The trap shut and we all gathered around.

“The first seen in the box!” cheered Ray.

“Ready to go!” continued Egon.

“We be fast,” Seeker went on.

“AND SHE BE SLOW!” we all said. We then heard a scream. It was the Head Librarian. He looked at the mess we made. Peter then opened his mouth.

“Now, there WAS a second ghost,” he said. “So, until we get her, the bill will…”

“WHAT BILL?!” roared the Head Librarian as he grabbed an axe. “YOU IDIOTS TRASHED STORAGE!! I’M NOT PAYING A SINGLE CENT! YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!”

“Yes, it means goodbye!” yelped Egon. We all ran out of the library, screaming!

“It’s on us, then!” called Peter as we went out the door and into Ecto-1. Ray turned the ignition on and we sped back to the firehouse.

“I am positive you broke several speed limits,” I panted as we got out.

“Would YOU like to return to a crazed Librarian?” asked Seeker as she cancelled her transformation. Ichigō and I followed suit.

“Hey, guys, what’s all the racket?!” burbled a voice as Sludgiona came up from the basement. She clapped eyes on us. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Emmanuel, Hongo, and Xiomara.”

“Hola!” called Xiomara. “How are things?”

“Doing all right, given the circumstances,” replied Sludgiona. She then turned to her current landlords. “Egon, I think I may have something.”

“On my way,” answered Egon as he took the trap. As they descended, Peter pulled Xiomara, Hongo, and I aside.

“Okay, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“We’re trying to stop a girl from coming back to life via destructive means,” replied Xiomara. “The necessary part for her is in this universe. Have you seen a quarter-circle around here?”

“Not in a while,” answered Ray.

“Sorry,” supplied Peter.

“Oh well,” I sighed. “Maybe Egon and Sludgiona saw it.”

“We’ll see ourselves down,” assured Xiomara. We headed down to see Sludgiona and Egon working on something.

“How about Coordinates 29 by 13 by 7?” asked Egon.

“Checking,” reported Sludgiona. She ran the data through and they waited for results. The screen flashed red. It read that the universal bio-print didn’t confirm with the one she was looking for. “DAMN IT!” swore Sludgiona. “The dimensional timeline…!”

“Looked similar,” interjected Egon, “but that’s most likely because it’s a parallel universe. It’s not one your people would inhabit. I think you would prefer to be with your people and not in a similar world.”

“It’s getting so that I may have to settle for that!” burbled Sludgiona. “Vortech traveled the multiverse to find Foundation Prime, most likely passing the one my people currently live in, yet, even with the blueprints I stole from him before I was enslaved, we can’t seem to find it!”

“We HAVE sent probes into other universes to collect even more possibilities,” called Hongo as he announced our presence. “We’re creating quite the map of the multiverse.”

“I’m only interested in ONE point on that map, and that’s where the Tarlaxians moved to,” hissed Sludgiona as she recovered from her startled state. “What brings you down here?”

“We need to ask you to help us find an Apocalypse Driver part,” answered Xiomara.

“Doesn’t Death’s student possess the complete Apocalypse Driver?” asked Sludgiona.

“The Four Horsemen made back-up parts in case one was damaged,” I explained. “Now, we have someone gathering the parts to resurrect herself.”

“And bringing doom onto the multiverse!” gulped Sludgiona.

“So, you know the implications,” I observed.

“Of course,” burbled Sludgiona. “I helped build the original parts. I’m willing to help in any way I can.”

“Très Bon,” I replied. “In the meantime, we need to navigate your universe. Dr. Spengler, do you think your team is willing to accept a few temps in terms of using the packs?”

“You mean practical Ghostbusting?” asked Egon. “We could use the help, since Winston is visiting family.”

“What’s this about temps?” asked Peter’s voice. He came down with Ray.

“Emmanuel and his team are requesting temporary jobs,” answered Egon. “I vote yes.”

“Well, we need the help,” replied Ray.

“Good, you three are hired,” called Peter. “There’re spare uniforms up top. They may be a little snug. Hope you can carry the packs.”

“We’ll manage,” assured Xiomara. We headed upstairs and got ourselves changed. You know me, I HATE pants. They are, how you say, restrictive as all get out! Still, I get to wear the Ghostbusters’ uniform! Any fan would LOVE to get into one of them! When we stepped out, we headed over to the spare packs. We tested them out, they were rather heavy. Still, we could manage, as Xiomara guessed. While we examined each other, Janine got a call.

“Hello, Ghostbusters,” she began. “…Yes, of course, they’re serious. …You again?! ...Him again?! …Okay, just refresh my memory on the address. …Uh huh. …Yes, they’ll be discreet this time. …Okay, no problem. Goodbye.” She hung up. “SLIMER’S HAUNTING THE SEDGEWICK HOTEL AGAIN!” she shouted as she rang the alarm.

“Again?” protested Peter as we got into Ecto-1.

“Maybe he died there,” I suggested.

“He could have been a chef that died of a heart attack,” theorized Egon.

“Or a patron that clogged his arteries,” remarked Ray.

“Can we save the speculation until we get the spud again?” asked Peter. We arrived at the hotel and were met by the manager.

“Well, doing business with you again, this is great!” cheered Ray.

“I wish I could say the same,” hissed the manager. “I just hope we can take care of this quietly!”

“Yes, sir. Don’t worry, we handle this kind of thing all the time!” assured Ray. Slimer then knocked the manager over as our bosses fired their packs. We got them to stop soon enough.

“What the hell are you doing?!” asked a cleaning lady.

“Nous sommes désolés!” (We’re sorry) I called. “We thought you were a ghost.”

“You know,” remarked Ray, “it’s just occurred to me. We REALLY haven’t had a completely successful test of the temps’ equipment.”

“Oh, I see!” I snapped. “Give the new guys the potentially volatile equipment!” Slimer then shook his butt at us and went through the door. At that point, more ghosts blocked our path. We threw our streams at the ghosts and ensnared them quickly. Ray then threw the trap and I was given the honor of opening it. The ghosts were sucked in and we tried the door. It was locked.

“Only one option,” remarked Peter. He then used his stream to cut a hole in the door!

“Peter!” protested Egon.

“We need to get the spud quickly!” argued Peter. We went inside to find a clean ballroom. “Split up!” whispered Peter. We all headed in a separate direction. Egon and I were in the kitchen. Xiomara investigated the ballroom with Peter. Hongo and Ray started their search at the bar. After a few minutes, Egon and I heard the streams being thrown. Slimer then flew through a wall and hovered over the stove.

“Slimer, you KNOW the Sedgewick Hotel is off limits!” called Egon. “Come on, back to the Firehouse.” Slimer made various spluttering noises and shook his head a lot. “Slimer! Home! Now!” demanded Egon. I pulled out the walkie-talkie.

“Who shot at Slimer first?” I asked on an open channel.

“That would be Peter,” replied Xiomara. “We lost sight of him.”

“Egon’s arguing with him right now,” I reported.

“You know,” mused Xiomara, “I never realized how much of an ugly booger he was until I met him.” Slimer glared in my direction.

“I think he just heard that ‘booger’ comment,” I gulped.

“Don’t move,” instructed Xiomara. “He won’t hurt you!”

“No, but he’s gonna slime me!” I yelped as Slimer charged at me. He phased through me and…oh, mon DIEU! I have never felt so filthy! It’s a good thing I wasn’t in my dress. I was dripping in Slimer’s…you know what. Ugh! Egon collected a sample before helping me up.

“I’ve never known Slimer to be this agitated,” he muttered. “I’ll need to study his behavior once we get him back.”

“Does anyone have eyes on Slimer?” I called over the radio.

“He’s back in the ballroom, judging by the PKE meter,” replied Hongo. “We can’t see him.”

“We’ll converge there,” directed Egon. We did so and searched the place. Ray then looked up.

“There he is! On the ceiling!” he called. We saw Slimer flying around a chandelier, making a gooey mess of it.

“And he’s making a table float,” observed Hongo.

“Pardon?” I asked, looking around. Hongo was right, Slimer was making a table float.

“He’s never done THAT before!” yelped Peter.

“Something’s wrong,” muttered Egon. “We need to get him down!” We threw our proton streams at the chandelier, making it fall and making Slimer run while summoning another horde of ghosts. We got them trapped and went around the floating table. Slimer was inhabiting another table and hurling food at us.

“NOW WHAT?!” I shouted, getting frustrated. I then saw Xiomara bringing a cake to him! “What are you, a waitress?!”

“Well, back home, yes,” replied Xiomara. “Besides, Slimer can’t resist the sweet stuff.”

“Good point!” I said, realizing her plan.

“We distract him, then we trap him?” guessed Hongo.

“That’s right!” confirmed Xiomara. “Keep me covered!” We did so as Xiomara successfully delivered the cake. Slimer stopped his assault and started eating.

“All right!” called Peter. “THROW IT!” We did so, but Slimer escaped and started hiding in the covered serving trays. They rotated, but I kept my eye on the one Slimer hid in. I shot it and he fled to the bar, in a blender.

“Okay, I know this is mean to the little guy, but…” I snickered. I then switched the blender on. Slimer came out of the top, throwing it away, and fled into a portrait while the slime he left behind scattered everywhere! As soon as I managed to turn it off, we got covered in slime.

“…Very clever,” hissed Hongo, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Sorry!” I sighed. Another ghost horde surrounded the painting. We got rid of them and fried the painting. We then fired on Slimer, who was getting worn out as he fled to a table and possessed it.

“That last shot took something out of him!” called Ray. “But, he’s gonna move! I need some room to put the trap down!” We turned the table into splinters as Slimer slowly moved up. “THROW IT!” shouted Ray. We did so and successfully ensnared Slimer! “All right, start bringing him down! Start bringing him down! You got him! Don’t cross the streams!”

“Hongo, shorten your stream!” directed Xiomara. “I don’t want my face burned off!”

“All right, I’m opening the trap now!” called Ray. “Don’t look directly into the trap!”

“Sorry, I looked at the trap, Ray!” I replied. Slimer was then sucked in and the trap shut itself.

“Well,” panted Ray, “that wasn’t such a bad first job for you guys, was it?” We were catching our breath at the time. We then picked up the trap and headed out.

“We came!” boasted Peter to the manager as he met us. “We saw! We kicked its ass!”

“Was it the same one?!” asked the manager.

“Unfortunately, yes, sir,” replied Ray. “And he brought friends.”

“I thought there was only one!” wailed the manager.

“Well, there wasn’t,” answered Peter. “Now, we took care of them and will still charge you the usual fee of $4,000, since the equipment is no longer new, but…” here comes the price gouging, “we had new guys working with us, so, an extra $1,000 dollars will get them started in future paychecks.”

“$5,000?” asked the manager. “I had no idea you would still use that absurd price. I won’t pay this time!”

“Oh, that’s quite all right,” I replied. “We can just put him back. He seems to love it here.” I made a move to open the trap.

“WAIT!” yelped the manager. He made out a check for $5,000.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” I called as we boarded Ecto-1.

“Well, that was an exciting experience,” chuckled Hongo. “Maybe I should convince Takeru to go into the business.”

“Oh boy,” I shuddered. “Let’s not go there.” We arrived at the firehouse and unloaded the ghosts into the containment unit. Sludgiona was down in the basement, talking with someone on her radio.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked. Emily’s voice came up.

“Of course!” replied Emily. “The bit of stuff you left on Megumi’s dress should be altered enough that it will cure you! You’ll be able to go home!”

“I WOULD like that,” sighed Sludgiona. She then saw us. “Ah, back already, I see. Emily told me you have a cure with you?”

“Oh, almost forgot. Pardon,” I apologized as I headed up to my locker. I took out a vial of Sludgiona’s ooze and headed back down. “Here,” I called as I handed it to her. She opened it and emptied the contents onto herself. She looked herself over.

“I don’t…feel any different,” she muttered. “Do I LOOK any different?”

“…Not particularly,” I replied. “I guess the test is if you can survive the rift energies.”

“That can wait,” declared Sludgiona. “At the moment, I’m expecting a call.”

“Okay, I’ll let you go,” replied Emily. “Hope to see you in person!” The call ended.

“Honestly, she’s a genius in the medical field,” muttered Sludgiona, “but I can’t believe she nearly broke rule 1 in _Jurassic World_!”

“You can explain why she couldn’t use her belt back there?” asked Xiomara.

“It was the fact she had a Foundation Element on her person!” answered Sludgiona.

“You mean, the Omnitrix?” I asked.

“Exactly!” confirmed Sludgiona. “While Azmuth may not know it, his greatest invention puts out energy that can overload machinery if it is used at all! Thank goodness, I installed various safety features in that regard! If the Vortex Drivers are within the user’s arm length of a Foundation Element and the user uses the Element’s power, the belt will shut down so the Element, a greater source of power, can be used safely.”

“Did you tell her that?” I asked.

“Of course,” replied Sludgiona. “I’m a genius. Now, if you don’t mind, I must wait for a call from Ms. Barrett.”

“Ms. Barrett?” asked Xiomara. “Dana Barrett?”

“The same,” confirmed Sludgiona. “She said she saw a Terror Dog in her fridge again.”

“Er…again?!” I gulped.

“You don’t think it’s Zuul again, do you?” asked Xiomara.

“Impossible,” I muttered. “She was beaten along with Gozer!”

“What ARE you talking about?” asked Sludgiona.

“Zuul the Gatekeeper is a worshipper of Gozer the Destructor,” explained Xiomara. “Since the host was Dana Barrett, it is believed that Zuul is a female. Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster usually accompanies her. Gozer, itself, is a force of destruction, with only one goal, to destroy the world. Last time Gozer was around, it took the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man. The Ghostbusters stopped its plans and saved humanity.”

“Wait, you said that this Zuul possessed Dana, right?” asked Sludgiona.

“I did,” replied Xiomara.

“…………DR. VENKMAN!” shouted Sludgiona. The Ghostbusters came rushing down.

“You didn’t tell them?!” I protested.

“Tell us what?!” asked Peter.

“Zuul’s back in Dana’s fridge!” answered Xiomara. “And SOMEONE didn’t research that creature enough!”

“Dana’s in trouble?!” yelped Peter.

“I’m sure we can take care of it tomorrow,” remarked Ray. “It’s probably stress. In the meantime, I gotta get some sleep. I’m dying.”

“True, you don’t look good,” observed Peter.

“I don’t?” asked Ray.

“Well, you looked better,” replied Peter. “I guess you’re right. Dana can fight Zuul off now.”

“She’s developed a resistance to supernatural possession,” revealed Egon.

“Then, in that case, Zuul may be wasting her time,” I sighed in relief. At that point, we heard a voice upstairs.

“…Cease and desist all commerce order! Seizure of premises and chattels! Ban on the use of public utilities for non-licensed waste handlers! And, my favorite, a federal entry and inspection order!” declared the voice.

“Oh no, not again!” wailed Peter.

“Peck?” I guessed.

“…Do you want some, er, coffee?” said Janine. Peck growled and shoved his way downstairs. We then got into a brawl with him and his men as they tried, yet again, to shut down the containment unit.

“Pecker,” I snapped, “I must question your sanity!”

“My name is Peck!” snarled the agent.

“You shut that thing down,” warned Peter, “and we are NOT going to be held responsible for whatever happens!”

“This time, you WILL be held responsible!” argued Peck.

“I sincerely doubt that!” growled Xiomara.

“Shut it off!” ordered Peck.

“Don’t touch!” I shouted as I grabbed a pipe, intending to swing it at the man. “I’m warning you!” Janine and another workman were just having coffee.

“I’ve quit better jobs than this,” sighed Janine.

“I must say,” remarked the workman, “I’ve always wanted to see your operations and I will admit, I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He leaned on a lever, the shutdown lever! The ghosts came out again!

“Not again!” wailed Peter. At that point, we heard another voice.

“WHERE’S THAT IDIOT, PECK?!” it bellowed. A woman came downstairs with Winston behind her. “WALTER PECK!” bellowed the woman.

“Mrs. Samson,” replied Peck, “I’m ready to make a full report on these clowns!”

“No, you’re not!” roared Mrs. Samson. “Didn’t you see the men clearing out your office?!”

“They told me they were moving me to a better office,” answered Peck.

“No, they were packing your belongings to get you out of our offices!” corrected Mrs. Samson. “The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer have you in our organization. You are to collect your belongings and empty your desk before 7:00 tonight.”

“…That can’t be right!” hissed Peck. “I want an explanation!”

“The EPA has noticed that you seem to harbor a vendetta with the Ghostbusters,” replied Mrs. Samson. “Yet, they comply with current environmental standards and…”

“Ma’am, they caused an explosion when I came to shut these snowball artists down!” snarled Peck.

“Walter Peck, I heard the reports from the men in attendance that day,” hissed Mrs. Samson. “YOU were the idiot that started that explosion, releasing spirits that these men have caught. Your vendetta is childish, your emotions are all over the damn place, and your repeating actions have caused us to question your mental stability. You are a poor excuse of a man and agent, Mr. Peck. You have no place in my offices or the Environmental Protection Agency.” She snapped her fingers. “Get this lunatic out of here. I need to turn this matter over to the experts.” Walter Peck was led away.

“Suit up?” guessed Winston.

“Yes, and head over to 55 Central Park West,” replied Egon.

“Spook Central again?!” yelped Peter.

“Well, it WAS where Zuul first started this mess,” I mused. “Shall we?” Winston got suited up and we all piled into Ecto-1. “Okay, whose hand’s in my eye?!” I snapped. It was really crowded.

“PKE arm, sorry!” replied Ray as we headed out.


	59. Chapter 59

We were dodging rubble of all sorts as we sped along the streets of New York. We were busting ghosts on the way and trapping them. “Good thing we have all the traps with us!” called Peter.

“Yeah, but it’s really uncomfortable!” remarked Hongo. We then stopped abruptly.

“What gives, Winston?!” snapped Peter. “We’re only halfway there!”

“Believe me, I DIDN’T want to stop, but a web’s blocking us!” replied Winston. We looked outside to see that Ecto-1 was, as Winston said, blocked by a large spider web.

“What kind of ghost does that?” asked Hongo.

“A ghost from your past!” replied a voice. A humanoid monster then came up to us and attacked Hongo. It had spider fangs, a pair of red antennae, three compound eyes in a triangular shape, a web cape, and claws on his fingers.

“Kumo-otoko!” (Spider-man) snarled Hongo.

“Who’s he?!” asked Peter.

“The first of the Shocker monsters I took down!” answered Hongo. He took off his pack and fought with Kumo-otoko. “Get going!” he called. “Cut the web down!”

“You heard the new guy!” ordered Peter. We threw our streams at the web and burned it.

“Rider…HENSHIN!” announced Hongo. He transformed into Ichigō and attacked Kumo-otoko. Well, tried to, his attacks just went through the monster. I grabbed a PKE meter and got a reading!

“HONGO! HE’S A GHOST!” I yelled as I pointed my wand at the monster. Ichigō then got out of the way as I got Kumo-otoko in the trap. We were about to go, but someone decided to slime the window!

“You again?!” snapped Ichigō as he changed back. It was Slimer. He was spluttering angrily. We were about to fire again, but Egon stopped us.

“I think he’s trying to tell us something,” observed Egon. Slimer slimed the windshield and wrote out what he was saying. “I tried to warn you at the hotel,” read Egon, “but you didn’t listen. My presence there was to relay messages for a ghost resistance against Gozer’s next rise. Zuul and Vinz Clortho have already taken their former hosts and are on top of Spook Central. They’ve already started the ritual and now you’ve trapped the soldiers needed to resist Gozer in the event that a form is chosen for it. It’s not going to be the Stay Puft Marshmallow man again. You idiots have just weakened our only chance of getting through the nightmare of Gozer.” We were stunned.

“I think we better release the ghosts,” suggested Ray.

“This is a one-time deal, spud,” clarified Peter. “After that, it’s business as usual.” Slimer nodded as we opened up the traps. They weren’t too happy, even Kumo-otoko.

“Do you know how cramped it is in there?!” he roared.

“Kumo-otoko,” assured Hongo, “we know your mission here. We made a mistake, but we’re willing to help.”

“Oh, really?” asked Kumo-otoko.

“Help us beat Gozer and we can get you a better place in the afterlife,” replied Xiomara.

“…If you double-cross me, I’ll make you regret it forever,” warned Kumo-otoko. He and the other ghosts joined us as we charged towards Spook Central. We were nearly there when a Subway train came up from beneath us. It blocked our path, so we had to find another way. We soon arrived at the apartment building and found ourselves blocked by ghosts. Slimer spluttered something.

“Those ghosts WANT Gozer to come back,” translated a ghost of the Industrial Revolution. We soon zapped and trapped them. We headed up to see ghosts blocking the hall along with Heather.

“THAT’S THEM!” roared Heather. The ghosts blocked our way as we leveled our wands at them. We started trapping, but Heather blocked our way with the rubble.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted, but this is getting out of hand,” I sighed. I fastened my Vortex Driver back on. Xiomara sighed and did the same. Hongo sighed as well, then he struck his pose as we drew out our i.d tags.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced as we donned our Rider personas. We then drew our weapons and converted them into their ranged modes. We aimed and destroyed the rubble, allowing us access to the roof. There was junk food everywhere!

“This looks extraordinarily bad,” reported Egon as he looked at the PKE meter.

“Look at all the junk food!” remarked Peter. We then heard messy eating, coming from Slimer. “Slow down,” directed Peter. “Chew your food.”

“We have bigger problems than Slimer’s eating habits,” gulped Seeker.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like Dana and Louis in their Terror Dog forms,” replied Seeker.

“WHAT?!” we all yelped as we turned the corner. She was right, Vinz Clortho the Keymaster and Zuul the Gatekeeper were back and ready to serve Gozer. Oh, did I mention Gozer was back as well.

“It’s a girl again,” observed Ray.

“It’s still Gozer,” replied Egon.

“Well, whatever it is,” declared Peter, “it’s gotta get by us again!”

“A task I can do easily now!” boasted Gozer.

“Against three new gods?” I asked.

“You are a god?” quizzed Gozer.

“Oui,” I replied.

“Then…DIE!” roared Gozer as it fired on us. We were nearly blown off the building! As we picked ourselves up, Ray decided to call Winston out.

“Say yes when someone asks if you’re a god, huh?!” he snapped. “That thing nearly roasted us!”

“I shall make sure to completely roast you this time!” declared Gozer.

“Not a chance!” I replied. “ALLONS-Y!” We charged at Gozer, but she leapt over our heads. This time, she was swinging punches. Heather joined in and attacked.

“Give it up!” demanded Heather. “I already got the Pestilence and Famine parts! Let me have the War part!”

“Got to Hell!” shouted Seeker.

“Been there, done that!” replied Heather. She swung a punch, but Seeker ducked. Heather’s punch connected to a pillar that shattered, revealing a lamp. It didn’t have power, but Seeker tricked Gozer into shooting the thing with electricity and pointed it at Gozer. It was blinded, allowing the Ghostbusters to fire. It got away from the streams and sent Zuul and Vinz after us.

“Try not to hurt Zuul!” called Peter. The one with shorter horns leapt onto me.

“What about her trying to hurt me?!” I countered.

“And what about Vinz?!” called Ichigō as Vinz swatted him. I then tricked Zuul into knocking down another pillar to reveal another lamp. As I pointed it at Gozer, it fired again and got blinded again. Gozer destroyed that lamp, then landed on the stone bench, facing us.

“We better go full stream!” remarked Egon.

“THROW IT!” ordered Peter.

“Un momento!” called Xiomara. At that point, we Riders powered down and activated our packs.

“NOW!” I yelled. We all fired at Gozer. It tried to throw up a barrier but it disappeared by our streams.

“We neutronised it!” replied Ray. “You know what that means?! A Complete Particle Reversal!”

“Oh well, them’s the breaks,” sighed Heather. “Still, it was a nice little war. I got what I needed.” She then held up the War part!

“GIVE THAT BACK!” I roared as I leveled my Neutrino wand at her.

“Not a chance, you rifle-dropping coward!” replied Heather. “You and that taco-snorting moron can go to Hell!”

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” screamed Xiomara. We fired, but Heather jumped off the building! We looked over the side but couldn’t find her. She had escaped us. “¡CARAJO!” (Damn) swore Xiomara.

“Is everything alright?” asked a voice. We turned to see a dimensional portal close with Sludgiona with us!

“Are you…?” I ventured.

“I found my people!” burbled Sludgiona. “I no longer have acclimation syndrome! I can travel the multiverse with no ill effects!” At that point, a storm flashed lightning at us and Gozer spoke.

“Sub-creatures! Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volgus Zildrohar, the Traveler has come! Choose and perish!” it declared.

“Choose?!” asked Hongo. “I don’t understand!”

“Choose! Choose the form of the Destructor!” demanded Gozer.

“Gozer needs a new form to destroy the world!” I elaborated.

“Whatever we think of, it becomes that!” continued Xiomara. “If we think of Hello Kitty, Hello Kitty will destroy the world!”

“All right, empty them brains!” called Peter. “Come on! Empty, empty, empty! That means you too, Ray!”

“The choice is made!” declared Gozer.

“WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!” shouted Peter.

“The Traveler has come!” boomed Gozer.

“NOBODY CHOOSED ANYTHING!” insisted Peter. He then turned to us and started pointing. “Did you choose anything?!”

“No!” replied Egon.

“Did you?!” asked Peter.

“My mind is totally blank!” answered Winston.

“What about you?!” quizzed Peter.

“Not this time!” assured Ray.

“New guys?!” asked Peter.

“Not me!” I replied.

“I’ve seen this scenario enough times to know better!” remarked Xiomara.

“Don’t look at me!!” insisted Hongo.

“I didn’t choose anything!” declared Peter. At that point, a horrible thought struck us. We turned to Sludgiona, who looked incredibly guilty.

“…I couldn’t help it,” she burbled. “It just popped in there.”

“What?” asked Xiomara. “What just popped in there?!”

“I…I tried to think of the most harmless…” replied Sludgiona.

“LOOK!” shouted Egon. We heard giant footsteps.

“No!” breathed Ray. “It can’t be!”

“What is it?!” asked Hongo.

“It’s impossible!” yelped Sludgiona.

“What did you do, Sludgy?!” snapped Peter.

“Oh, S**T!” swore Winston. Then…we saw it. A sailor hat with the words “Stay Puft” on it.

“…She didn’t!” gasped Xiomara.

“Of course, she did!” I hissed.

“What did she do?!” asked Hongo. “What is that?!”

“…It’s the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man,” explained Ray. Yes, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, fat, made of marshmallows, and wearing a sailor hat and collar.

“Now this is just silly,” sighed Peter.

“I thought such a form would never bring harm!” gulped Sludgiona.

“Well,” mused Ray, “it did once before.”

“And Gozer remembers that form!” called Xiomara. She pointed to the creature as it examined its hands and roared in frustration. It then stepped on a church like a two-year-old.

“STOP STEPPING ON CHURCHES!” shouted Peter. Gozer then turned its head up and gave an evil grin.

“Oh no,” gulped Winston.

“PETER!” we shouted.

“Mother puss bucket!” snarled Peter as he realized his mistake.

“Well, we can start damaging it!” called Ray. “One! Two! Three! ROAST HIM!” We threw our streams, but Gozer wasn’t about to be caught off-guard again. It dodged as it made its way to the building. It climbed all the way up! It then raised a fist!

“LOOK OUT!” I warned. We got away from the fist as it connected to the roof. It then pulled the fist back and then spat out three globs of marshmallow goo. Something then moved in the goo! Then, they rose out! Human sized Stay Puft Marshmallow Men! “All right, I can’t deal with this!” I hissed as I drew my i.d. tag. Xiomara did the same and Hongo struck his starting pose. “We’ll hold these things; you see if you can roast Gozer!”

“With what?!” asked Peter.

“With the rubble he’s using!” answered Winston as he pointed at a fuel tanker in Gozer’s hand. The Ghostbusters then readied their packs.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“HENSHIN!” we announced. We transformed and went on the offensive. We Riders kept the Marshmallow Minions of the Ghostbusters while they made the tanker explode. Gozer’s shoulder caught fire while the explosion made Sludgiona reintroduce herself to the real world.

“What am I doing?!” she snapped. “I’m not just a scientist, I’m a Tarlaxian!” She drew her blade, oh mon DIEU! That thing was massive. She joined us Riders as we held off the Marshmallow Minions.

“FIST INCOMING!” warned Ray. We all rolled out of the way of Gozer’s fist. When it finished, Gozer spat out more Minion Spawn pools and made our job harder while Gozer picked up a car. The Ghostbusters fired in the general area of the engine, making it explode. They then fired on Gozer’s head, making it madder than ever and start hurling more rubble. It picked up one more fuel tanker which the Ghostbusters fired on. The explosion made Gozer hit its head on the roof, making it dizzy.

“NOW’S OUR CHANCE!” called Seeker. We Riders then leapt into the air! Rider Kick time!

“RIDER KICK!” announced Ichigō.

“RIDER ARCH KICK!” I called.

“RIDER SEEKER KICK!” yelled Seeker. Our kicks connected with Gozer’s head and it lost its grip with the building.

“Done!” I cheered.

“Not yet,” replied Egon as he pointed to the door.

“Oh, yeah,” I realized. “So, what do we…?” I then saw the look in Egon’s eye. “…No, you can’t…”

“It worked last time,” remarked Egon.

“With just four packs!” reminded Seeker as we cancelled our transformations again.

“I don’t understand,” muttered Hongo.

“We’re crossing the streams,” explained Ray.

“Egon, you said that was bad!” wailed Xiomara.

“How is it bad?” asked Hongo.

“Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously, and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light,” I explained.

“…AND YOU WANT TO DO THAT?!” yelled Hongo as he realized the danger.

“You're gonna endanger us, you’re gonna endanger the new guys, you're gonna endanger our client!” supplied Peter. “The nice lady who became a dog again!”

“And we only had a slim chance of survival with just FOUR packs!” reminded Winston.

“I will admit, our chances in that department are a little slimmer,” replied Egon.

“…There’s no choice, is there?” I muttered.

“There is,” mused Ray. “Either die by Gozer’s hand or die saving the world.”

“Truth be told,” sighed Hongo, “I DID have fun as a Ghostbuster.”

“Well, in that case,” I declared, “who wants to live forever anyways?”

“Let’s do it,” resolved Xiomara. We leveled our wands at the door and warmed the packs up.

“Good luck,” bid Sludgiona.

“Mesdames et Messieurs,” I declared, “if we don’t make it, au revoir.”

“Adios,” bid Xiomara.

“See you guys on the other side!” replied Ray.

“THROW ‘EM!” ordered Peter. We fired our streams and brought them together. The door glowed as the combined stream started heating it up. We heard a roar, indicating that Gozer climbed back up to see us destroying the door. At that point, both the door and Gozer exploded. We were soon buried in rubble and marshmallow goop. It took a few minutes for me to get up and examine myself. My hands ran over my face to reveal my makeup had been ruined.

“Well, better that than my molecules exploding,” I sighed.

“You’re taking it rather well,” called a voice with a Castilian accent. I saw Xiomara come up; her hair was all disheveled. She was holding the remains of the scrunchie that held her bun in place. Hongo got up and pushed a groaning Peter off. Ray and Egon were helping Winston up while Sludgiona was trying to break open Zuul’s petrified remains. Soon, Dana’s hand came out.

“WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?!” wailed a muffled voice. We heard someone fall and turned to see Louis Tully wearing Vinz Clortho’s head.

“Don’t worry,” I answered. “We’ll have you out before you can say ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost!’” We got the head off and saw that Louis’ glasses were broken.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“New guys,” replied Xiomara.

“Temps that must, regrettably,” I continued, “cut our employment short.”

“You’re leaving?!” yelped Peter.

“Lo siento,” (I’m sorry) replied Xiomara, “but we’re still at war with Vortech. We got preoccupied with Heather’s antics and need to quell her ambitions before we have TWO disasters on our hands.”

“That doesn’t mean we had to leave you guys once Heather did,” I continued. “A hero doesn’t do that. Now, I DO have a question. Ms. Barrett, how did Zuul possess you again?” Dana immediately blushed.

“I’ll just say it involved me being drunk and Zuul offering a drink,” she mumbled.

“Never mind,” realized Xiomara, “I think I can piece the story together. We’ll just go back to the firehouse and return the packs and suits.”

“No, keep those,” countered Peter. “We’re a bit overstocked. You can keep them as a memento.”

“Er, what about their paychecks?” asked Ray.

“Will these help?” asked Louis as he drew out a drawstring pouch. The contents jangled.

“Most likely,” I mused, “if I’m right.”

+CONTENTS OF THE BAG+ reported my belt +ARE STUDS IN THE TOTAL OF 425,000+

“We’ll figure out the total when we get back,” I resolved. I then contacted Vorton. “X-PO, we need a ride.”

“Summoning a ride,” called X-PO.

“Don’t you want to say ‘hi’ to the crowd below?” asked Winston as the portal opened.

“No, thank you,” replied Hongo, “we’ll just slip out quietly. Sayonara.”

“Adios,” bid Xiomara.

“Au revoir,” I called. “And thank you for the adventure!” We then went into the portal and left the Ghostbusters.


	60. Chapter 60

“Those proton packs may prove useful for the confrontation,” I mused when Emmanuel finished. “Good work, you three.”

“Just doing our job,” replied Emmanuel.

“GET AWAY FROM THAT!!” boomed a voice.

“That was Rusty!” I realized. “Come on!” We followed the shout to see Rusty, Hiroki, Livia, Emu, and the Brigadier holding a young man back. The man was Japanese, from what I could see in the struggling, had a beige coat, a pair of jeans, a grey shirt under the coat, and mismatching sneakers. They were the same brand, but the right sneaker was blue and the left was red. He had tools in his hands and was about to dissect Rusty’s old shell! “HEY!” I snapped as I turned into Tora-Onna and hoisted the man up. “Don’t you know it’s rude to be poking around someone’s old shell?!” I growled. The man’s reaction surprised me. Instead of terror at the prospect of being lifted by a tiger woman with machinery sticking out of her, his face showed excitement at being in the presence of what would usually be a scientific impossibility.

“HOW COOL!” he cheered as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How did all of your machinery grow like this?!”

“Good question, not the point,” I replied. “How did you get here?! Who are you?!”

“That’s Sento Kiryu,” answered Hiroki. “He’s Emu’s successor, Kamen Rider Build.”

“And did your team have a hand in his arrival here? Along with Emu?” I asked.

“Actually,” clarified Emu, “some monster by the name of Caan did that.”

“Khan?” I asked, going off the pronunciation.

“Yeah,” confirmed Livia. “He spelled it C-A-A-N, and said he was part of a cult called the Cult of Skaro.”

“The Cult of Skaro?” asked Rusty.

“You know them?” I asked as I set Sento down.

“That’s just a myth amongst the Daleks,” answered Rusty.

“What’s this about Dalek Myths?” asked a British voice. Michael came in to say hi to Xiomara.

“Michael, do you know anything about a cult of Skaro?” I asked.

“I think you mean THE Cult of Skaro,” replied Michael. “A group of four Daleks that were given what Daleks consider a curse that Humanity is saturated with.”

“There are many aspects of Humanity the Daleks consider a curse,” commented Rusty, “you will have to be more specific.”

“Imagination,” replied Michael. “Those specific Daleks were to imagine like their enemies so they could better exterminate them. Thankfully, they broke up, like a band. Except, not, unless most bands resort to killing one member, the other two dying by their entourage, and the last survivor flying into the Time War to save Davros from the jaws of the Nightmare Child, only to die when Davros’ Reality Bomb was destroyed before it could wipe out all non-Dalek life in the universe. They were the only Daleks to have names.”

“What were they?” I asked.

“Sec, the one that was killed first, was a Black Dalek,” answered Michael, “Jast and Thay died by humans that they had spliced Dalek DNA into, and Caan was the one who saved Davros. It cost him his mind, but he could see into the future.”

“And is Caan spelled C-A-A-N?” asked Livia.

“…Yes, why do you ask?” asked Michael, suspicion forming in his brain.

“He’s alive,” replied Hiroki. “Our mission led to an encounter with him.”

“That’s impossible! I just said when he died!” wailed Michael.

“That’s a bit of a tale,” muttered Livia.

“Then tell it,” I directed.

* * *

“This is it!” cheered Heather as her spectral fingers worked with the internal mechanics. “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna come back to life, pure and fully equipped!”

“All this,” snarked a voice, “just to get your old body back, but with ovaries.”

“I thought I told you to stay out of this!” hissed Heather as she turned to a monstrous looking humanoid. It had three tentacles on the back of its head with a single eye in the center of its forehead. Its armor was reminiscent of a Dalek. Its shape was that of a humanoid male.

“I don’t need to be a prophet to tell you that your plan will fail,” replied the monster.

“Go away, Caan,” snarled Heather. “This isn’t your fight!”

“Why can’t you just accept the fact,” asked the former Dalek Caan, “that this is going to backfire miserably?”

“Because I never saw your name listed as one of the prophets in the Bible!” argued Heather.

“No, because you can’t get your head out of your rear when someone who can see the future says that this is a bad idea!” snarled Caan.

“I need to come back to life and my own Apocalypse Driver will get me exactly what I want!” insisted Heather.

“And you’ll spread pure humanity when you do,” mocked Caan, “and your descendants will continue your mission of purity, and everything will be wonderful! Except, that’s where you humans get it wrong. You never knew purity and will never know that.”

“Says the mutant!” roared Heather. “I WILL succeed!”

“I’m the one that looked into the Time Vortex,” mused Caan, “I’m generally well informed in these matters.”

“Go away, I have work to do!” insisted Heather.

“Well, I DID foresee you not listening to reason,” sighed Caan. “But, I warn you, you’re about to unleash a force you cannot control nor comprehend. Toodle-oo!” He then summoned a portal and went through.

“Stupid Dalek,” snarled Heather. “What would THEY know about purity?”

* * *

“Failure, as I predicted,” sighed Caan as he arrived on Foundation Prime.

“Won’t that change things?” I asked as the picture switched off.

“Not really,” replied Caan. “The Vortex Riders’ little skirmish with Heather won’t affect us.”

“And if there’s a new person to arrive at the end of that skirmish?” I queried.

“Rest assured, Madame Igura,” assured Caan, “she won’t help much. She will be a newborn.”

“She?” I asked.

“Unimportant,” dismissed Caan. “The point is, she’ll be too busy deciding who she is to help.”


	61. Chapter 61

When we came through, Mia Regina, we noticed our surroundings were NOT 8-bit. I looked a little further. “No health bars,” I observed, “no score counters, no profile versions of our faces, no text boxes, and we’re not even polygonal.”

“Is this the right place?” asked Gandalf.

“I’ll find out,” replied Hiroki as he called up Vorton. “X-PO, where are we? This doesn’t look like an arcade game.”

“You must be in the main dimension,” answered X-PO. “I did say that the dimension you were in was a trans-reality pocket dimension. What Chell meant when she translated it as ‘weird’ was that it means that it’s a universe WITHIN a universe. You guys were in the shared reality most arcade games share.”

“Hold on,” I quizzed, “are you telling me we were INSIDE the video games? The actual arcade machines?!”

“Exactly,” replied X-PO.

“And we’re in the ‘real world’ of this dimension?” asked Hiroki.

“If you want to put it like that, yes,” answered X-PO. “In any case, you’ve got a mission to complete.”

“Right, we’ll call back when we’re done,” finished Hiroki. He ended the call. “Well, no point sitting on our butts. Let’s find that part.” We started walking around the city for a bit, looking for Heather. As we walked, we heard noises near an arcade. A young man was walking by with a green shirt with the alien from _Defender_ on it. He also wore a black jacket and was playing a game on his phone. He had earbuds on and was so engrossed in the game.

“No sense in not getting local knowledge,” I mused. We approached the kid and I tapped him on the shoulder. The poor boy jumped a bit and took his earbuds out as he faced us. He looked a bit confused.

“Is there some sort of fancy convention going on?” he asked. We then realized he was talking about our clothing.

“Actually, we usually dress like this,” replied Hiroki. “I’m Hiroki, this is Livia, and that’s Gandalf. Who are you?”

“I’m Jake,” introduced the kid, “former Retro Gaming Champ under the title of Gamer Kid.”

“Gamer Kid?” I chuckled. “Just that?”

“Short, simple, why not?” asked Jake.

“Fair enough,” I conceded. At that point, we heard a rumble.

“That came from the old Coin-Op arcade!” yelped Jake. That was when Emu and another man were tossed out and various characters and enemies from the old arcade games came out of the arcade. Still inside the arcade was a humanoid man with one single, yellow eye in his forehead and three tentacles for hair. His armor looked almost like a Dalek.

“My business here doesn’t concern you,” he snarled. “Normally, I would say ‘Do not interfere,’ and shout ‘Obey’ a lot, but I can see that you won’t listen to my old Dalek ways.”

“You? A Dalek?!” I yelped. The creature saw us.

“And Livia, Gandalf, and Hiroki arrive,” he sighed. “I must admit, I thought I would be wrong, but it only makes sense.”

“Just a minute,” interjected Gandalf, “how did you know we would come?”

“I’ve flown through the Time Vortex,” answered the creature. “I have the gift of prophecy. You won’t succeed in you mission.”

“We’ll see about that!” declared Hiroki as we readied our Drivers. The creature pulled out a Dalek gunstick and fired at the ground.

“You WILL wait there until the appropriate time,” he ordered. He then disappeared into the arcade.

“Okay, no WAY am I obeying,” I snarled.

“Indeed,” replied Gandalf. “If he used to be one of those unsavory Daleks, we MUST stop him.”

“And get that belt part,” continued Hiroki. “We’re pressed for time. Quick intros. Hiroki Hishikawa.”

“Livia Acqua,” I introduced.

“Gandalf the Grey,” replied Gandalf.

“Jake, Gamer Kid,” called Jake.

“Hojo Emu,” introduced Emu.

“Kiryū Sento,” finished the new man.

“Right, let’s get in there!” declared Hiroki. We came into the arcade and found the Wizard from _Gauntlet_. It spoke in the usual arcade beeps with a text box translating it.

“Greetings, mortals,” greeted the Wizard. “Just as was foretold to me, a Gamer of Legend has appeared upon the anarchic uprising of the arcade.” He pointed to Jake when he said that.

“…Me?!” yelped Jake.

“As you can see,” remarked the Wizard, “evil powers have possessed the heroes of these once beloved video games and the entire world needs your help in setting them free. You must find a way to banish the taint from these heroes and then defeat their games so they can return to their electronic slumber. Go now and fulfill your destiny!” He zapped Jake with a spell.

“What was that?!” called Jake as he recovered from the tingle.

“That,” explained the Wizard, “was a spell that gave you a supply of special sodas that give you a certain power. The powers you have are laser vision, stealth, super strength, invulnerability, and speed. Farewell!” The Wizard disappeared.

“Well, what do you know?!” cheered Hiroki. “A new superhero’s born!”

“Why me?” moaned poor Jake.

“Why NOT you?” asked Emu.

“You guys fight this kind of thing all the time, it looks like!” argued Jake. “I’m dead weight!”

“Never heard of it,” I remarked. Jake opened his mouth to explain. “And, I don’t want to hear about it! Nobody is useless! Your gaming knowledge will help us succeed! You can become something greater!”

“Can’t I just think things over?!” asked Jake, terrified out of his mind.

“Nerds across the world, no matter their affiliation,” I argued, “have been thinking things over for far too long!”

“Tell me,” pressed Gandalf, “when did those little lights and sounds in those magic boxes become so important to you? I know of at least 16 people who are off in search of adventure! People who would love nothing better than to learn what was beyond the borders of their world! The world is not in maps, books, or plays. It’s out there.”

“I can’t just go running into a fight!” protested Jake. “I’m a gamer!”

“You’re also a 21st century nerd,” replied Hiroki. Jake snorted and leaned against the wall; arms folded. “Did you know that my great-great grandfather worked for Nintendo when it was a hanafuda card company? It’s true. He personally oversaw the quality of hanafuda cards and ensured that Nintendo was huge in the playing card industry. He left the company but was still invested in its interests. With his help, Nintendo followed the meaning behind its name, ‘Leave luck to Heaven’.”

“…Half of that sounds made up,” muttered Jake.

“Okay, truth be told,” replied Hiroki, “my great-great grandfather swept the place back in the day. He still used ‘Leave luck to Heaven’ as his motto though.”

“All stories deserve a little embellishment,” affirmed Gandalf. “You’ll have a tale or two to tell when you succeed.”

“Can you promise that I WILL succeed?” asked Jake. The silence we gave was deafening to him.

“No,” I finally replied. “And, if you do, you will not be the same again.”

“I thought so,” sighed Jake. “I’m sorry, guys, I can’t help you.” He then put his hands in his pockets and started going home. “You got the wrong guy,” he called. When he rounded a corner, there was no doubt in our minds that he wasn’t helping us.

“It looks like we lost our local knowledge,” I muttered.

“Perhaps it’s just as well,” sighed Sento. “After all, what are we? Nerds, a wizard, a doctor, and a genius hero?”

“We ARE fighters,” replied Emu.

“For some of us, the fight is over,” remarked Sento. “I already beat my main bad guy.”

“That’s two endings I missed!” hissed Hiroki. “I gotta binge-watch when we get back to Vorton!”

“Pardon?” asked Sento.

“Okay, I’m gonna say something that will surprise you,” I answered. “We’re all from different universes. In our world,” I pointed to myself and Hiroki, “you, Emu, and Gandalf are fictional, seen in TV shows, movies, or read about in books.”

“I’ve called myself the Rider Encyclopedia,” continued Hiroki. “And we’re all in a different universe as well. That creature was also from another universe.”

“No way!” cheered Sento as a part of his hair stuck up when he became excited. “Multiverse theory is multiverse FACT?!”

“You know about multiverse theory?” asked Hiroki.

“I’m a genius theoretical physicist,” answered Sento. “No scientific theory escapes me.”

“A scientist?” I quizzed.

“And Kamen Rider,” answered Emu. “That’s Kamen Rider Build, the one I told you guys about when we met in those games.”

“Oh, YOU’RE his successor,” realized Hiroki. “I went on this adventure in the middle of Emu’s run. Could you show me your Rider form?”

“Sure,” replied Sento. He then took out his main belt. It was a black on with a gear on the right side of a space that had slots for two things, much like the Double Driver. On the right of the gear was a hand crank. “This is my main belt, the Build Driver,” explained Sento. “And THESE,” he took out a pair of little bottles, “are the items I use to transform, my Fullbottles.”

“Fullbottles?” chuckled Hiroki.

“Hey, look!” I called as I pointed to the red one. “That one’s got a picture of a rabbit!”

“What on Earth is the image on the blue one?” asked Gandalf.

“That’s…a tank,” I muttered.

“Wait, are those stickers on the caps?” asked Hiroki.

“These stickers,” replied Sento, “indicate a Best Match.”

“The best kind of pairing?” I asked.

“Exactly,” confirmed Sento. “Originally, the Build Driver was used to just detect Best Matches, but I modified it to become a transformation belt.” He then set the Build Driver to his waist. “Sā, jikken o hajimeyou ka?” (Now, shall we begin the experiment?) asked Sento as he put a Fullbottle in each hand. He then shook the bottles as they made a clicking sound. After a few seconds, he twisted the caps so the labels faced outside. He put the bottles into the Build Driver, the red Rabbit one first, nearest to the large gear, then the blue tank one, on the right side of the Rabbit. As he put them in, holograms of the symbols on the bottles appeared.

“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” announced the Build Driver. A bit of music played before Sento turned the crank. We could hear machinery as Emu moved us back to make room for the glass tubes that were coming out of the gear. They formed the thing that would hold the plastic parts in model kits in front of and behind Sento and the contents of the bottles flowed through the tubes to form the parts of the suit. The front allowed the red bottles contents to form the left part of the head and eye, the right arm and shoulder with torso, and left leg while the contents of the blue bottle formed the right part of the head and eye, left arm and shoulder with torso, and right leg. The parts were forged at a diagonal. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Build Driver.

“Henshin!” called Sento. The suit parts were then slammed onto Sento and the suit filled in the gaps with black armor. Sento, as Kamen Rider Build, had an interesting motif to him. His left leg had a spring and his right foot had a tank tread. His left eye and antenna looked like a bunny’s head in profile with the ear sticking up and the right eye looked like a tank pointing its gun barrel upwards.

“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT!” (The Moonsault of Steel!) announced the Build Driver. “RABBITTANK! YAY!” Build then ran his finger along the tank eye’s gun barrel.

“Shōri no hōsoku wa…” declared Build before he made his fingers splay out, “…kimatta!” (The law of victory is set!)

“Okay, I’m impressed,” breathed Hiroki.

“I know, right?!” cheered Sento. “I'm amazing! I'm the best! I'm a genius!”

“And the ego comes out,” sighed Hiroki. He was about to say something more when an explosion came from the arcade. “Crap! Our mission!”

“We better get moving!” I declared. We drew our i.d tags out.

“Henshin!” we called. Emu then got his Gashat out and pressed the button.

“MIGHTY ACTION X!” it announced.

“Dai Henshin!” called Emu. He then put the Gashat into his Gamer Driver.

“GASHATTO!” shouted the belt. He then pulled the lever. “GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” He went straight to his level 2 form.

“Let’s go!” called Ex-Aid. We all charged in to see Caan trying to get away from a white car. It seemed to be shrouded by a black mist.

“Is that the…?” asked Sengoku.

“The G-6155 Interceptor from _Spy Hunter_!” I confirmed.

“I LOVE that game!” cheered Ex-Aid. The car then fired on us! “I DON’T LIKE THAT!” yelped Ex-Aid as we took cover.

“I knew it! Couldn’t resist interfering, could you?!” snarled Caan. He drew a Dalek gun on us. “Exterminate!” he shouted as he fired.

“Better stay out of range,” muttered Build as more piping came out of the gear on his belt. It formed a large drill with a single handle.

“What, in the name of sanity, is that?” asked Sengoku.

“I call it the Rotary Sword/Gun Drill Crusher!” proclaimed Build as he took the drill head off and placed the point of the drill into a slot on the handle that was a little perpendicular to the main grip. He pulled the trigger and the shots came out in a rotary blast.

“This is getting us nowhere!” snapped Sengoku as he fired.

“‘Pointless’ would have been the word I used,” muttered Caan. “Just give…ARGH!” He clutched his head in pain. “A…timeline change?!” he gasped. “How?!”

“GET OVER HERE!” shouted a voice. At that exact moment, Jake jumped into the battle zone, grabbed Caan’s tentacles, and threw him into the car, making the mist fade away!

“Keep him covered,” called a woman’s voice. “That Strength Soda he drank won’t last long. Jake? If you please? I believe 8000 points is the minimum.”

“Got it, Shade!” replied Jake. We all turned to see a new Kamen Rider! It was a woman in obsidian armor with gold trim. Her eyes were red and her helmet was in the shape of a witch’s hat. She wore a black cape and had large gauntlets. Her belt was silvery with a silver jewel in the center. Her undersuit was silver as well.

“Who are you?!” asked Gandalf.

“Don’t be rude!” chided Sengoku. “Introduce yourself before you ask!”

“It’s all right,” assured the woman. “I was raised with an American father. Besides, I’m from the future. I already know you guys.”

“The future?!” asked Sengoku.

“No way!!” cheered Build.

“Don’t bother asking me questions about the future,” directed the woman. “I swore an oath not to reveal things until the proper time. Temporal Prime Directive and all that.”

“…Of course,” remarked Sengoku.

“Now then,” declared the woman, “I’ll just introduce myself. I am Kamen Rider Shade, a magic based Rider, like Wizard.” She then drew her wand and a jewel sphere, a ruby, to be precise. She leveled her wand at the sphere. “One move against Jake,” she warned Caan, “and I cast a spell that will allocate the explosive power of my Ruby Under-sphere to the external lattice-work. BOOM! Instant bomb that will kill us all! So, back away from the Gamer Kid!” Caan snarled as he lowered his gun. “That’s better,” remarked Shade. “All right, you guys may ask questions.”

“Allocate the…?” muttered Gandalf.

“Quiet, Gandalf,” hissed Sengoku. “She’s doing a Thing!”

“You come here,” I said to Caan, “to get something for Vortech, but the search is interrupted by someone. A backwoods ghost?”

“And who are you to ask that?” asked Caan.

“The one who’s gonna stop you,” I resolved.

“Magic?” asked Build.

“Could we have a bit of hush, please?” requested Shade.

“Magic exists in a few worlds,” replied Gandalf. “One of you Kamen Riders is a wizard.”

“I said hush,” insisted Shade.

“Grazie,” (Thank you) I replied. “As for you, Caan, you came here for a reason. What is it, being the Daleks’ herald for their invasion?”

“Why would we invade this backwater universe?” asked Caan.

“So, what brings a member of the Caan breed of Daleks here?” asked Ex-Aid.

“Caan breed?!” snapped Caan, offended. “There is only ONE breed of Dalek! We will not accept any mutations! Caan is my name! Caan of the Cult of Skaro, at your service!”

“So, you’re part of a cabal?” I asked.

“Last member of a cabal,” clarified Caan.

“Then you’re here to resurrect it!” I guessed. “How can you do that with people from a backwater universe?” Caan didn’t answer my question.

“You there, Shade, was it?” he asked. “You have a spell that will do what? Allocate the explosive power of your Ruby Under-sphere to the external lattice-work, making it a bomb that will explode in an instant?”

“That’s what I said,” replied Shade. “One that would kill us all!”

“You made that up, didn’t you?” muttered Caan.

“WHOOO!” cheered Jake. “HIGH SCORE! Now, see this! THIS is a real video game!”

“It served its distraction well,” mused Shade. At that point, the Wizard appeared again, causing the car to vanish!

“ _Spy Hunter_ was first released in arcades in 1983,” translated his text box. “It is said that _Spy Hunter_ was originally made to be based on a popular spy movie franchise, but the license could not be acquired.” He then vanished and a gate opened to reveal another section of the arcade.

“Now, with no further distractions…” declared Caan as he raised his gun.

“No, you don’t!” replied Shade as she swapped her belt’s jewel for the ruby in her hand.

“UNDER-CHANGE!” announced her belt. “RUBY PATRIOT!” Her undersuit changed to a ruby color!

“Inspired by the hot-headedness of my American father!” called Shade. She then decked Caan, causing an explosion to occur on impact!

“Fireworks?!” yelped Sengoku.

“Well, some cultures view rubies as the July birthstone for patriots,” I recalled. “And she said she has an American dad, and they usually launch fireworks around July, so why not?”

“Fair point,” replied Sengoku. Caan was picking himself up as we moved to the area on the left.

“You know, fun fact about this place,” chuckled Jake. “In the 70’s, this was made into a flower shop by someone who was a paranoid kook. He made an area called a War Room. In the event of a robbery, the War Room will become the four safest walls in the building. End of lesson!” He shut the door as we entered the room and pressed a button that activated steel doors. “There,” declared Jake. “Now, Caan the alien can’t get in!”

“So, how do WE get OUT?!” I asked.

“……Ah,” remarked Jake.


	62. Chapter 62

“Don’t worry, guys,” called Shade. “I have a spell that will teleport us out of here.”

“Good to know,” replied Build.

“INTRUDERS! DIE!” boomed a robotic voice. It was Robotron! He fired on us as we took cover.

“Someone needs to stop him!” I called.

“He’ll shoot us the instant he sees us!” replied Sengoku.

“I got this!” announced Jake. He gulped down a soda and turned invisible!

“Of course!” I realized. Sengoku got the idea and we drew out the Batman i.d tags.

“Batman Steel!” announced our belts as we donned the image of the Dark Knight. We then followed suit with Jake and attacked Robotron before he teleported to another level, near an air hockey table. We then crept up on him and attacked again! He teleported to a lower area, then we followed and attacked. He teleported to the highest level by a pair of pinball machines until we attacked again. He fell and we found Robotron’s game

“ _Robotron: 2084_!” cheered Jake. “I love this game! Quick! Save the last human family!” Jake got to work playing it until he earned 10,000 points. The wizard appeared again.

“ _Robotron: 2084_ ,” he revealed, “was first introduced to arcades in 1982. In total, there are 40 enemy waves hard-coded into the game. After Wave 40 has been completed, Waves 21 to 40 are then repeated until 255 waves have been beaten in total.” He vanished again.

“Okay, he’s gone,” muttered Build, “but what about Caan?”

“I’ll check,” called Shade. She cast a spell on the doors which allowed us to see through it. Caan had long since abandoned the area. “Okay, we’re good. Now, all I need to do is…” the doors opened by themselves. Gandalf was sitting by the doors, puffing on his pipe! “H…how did you do that?” asked Shade.

“There’s a button marked ‘Open’,” replied Gandalf as he pointed out the button with his pipe. Shade smacked her head.

“If Mom finds out, she’ll never let me hear the end of it!” she groaned. “Right, this way.” We left the room and went to the other side of the arcade where a knight was riding an ostrich and holding a jousting lance!

“STAB! KILL!” shouted the knight. He then charged us! We got out of the way and Build stepped on one of the _Dance Dance Revolution_ machines. He heard a noise and saw that it was from a box shaking on the ceiling. He then saw another switch next to him that looked like it had a timer. An idea then formed in his head.

“Jake, do you have something that can increase your speed?!” he asked.

“I have a speed soda, why?!” replied Jake. He then saw the timer and pressure switches. “Okay, I can see why you would ask about my speed, but how will we keep the knight sufficiently distracted?! It’s taking most of us to keep him at bay!”

“Don’t worry, I have a Best Match for that!” assured Build. He then took out two more Fullbottles, one purple and one yellow. The purple one had a shuriken on it while the yellow one had a comic page on it. He then replaced the Rabbit Fullbottle with the purple one and the Tank with the yellow.

“NINJA! COMIC! BEST MATCH!” announced the Build Driver. He turned the crank and the piping came out again. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Build Driver.

“Build Up!” replied Build. The piping then formed the suit and slammed the sides onto Build. The red was replaced with purple, the Rabbit eye turned into an elongated shuriken, and he got a purple scarf. The blue was replaced with yellow and his Tank eye was replaced with a pen over a set of explosive panels. Surfer rock music played as the Build Driver announced the form.

“SHINOBI NO ENTERTAINER!” (The Stealthy Entertainer) NINNINCOMIC! YEAH!” announced the belt. Build then held his hand out as piping formed a sword. The sword had a pen tip on top and there were four panels that made up the blade. The one nearest the hilt had multiple ninja like characters, the one above that had a ninja making an explosion, the one above that had a ninja making a circular wind, and the one at the top, just below the pen tip of the sword, had a ninja vanishing in a puff of smoke. “4KOMA NINPŌTŌ!” (Pronounced Yon Koma, means 4 Panel Ninja Sword) called the belt. He pressed a button on the handle once and the bottom-most panel lit up.

“BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!” (Art of cloning) it announced. At that point, three more Builds came into being. Jake got the idea as the clones stepped onto the pressure pads and drank the speed soda. He ran onto all four timer switches and the box fell, revealing another knight on an ostrich. The knights made eye contact and they rushed at each other; lances ready. They knocked themselves out at that time. Build then dismissed the clones as Jake found the game the knights came from. It was _Joust_! You flew around on an ostrich jousting enemies off theirs and collecting their eggs.

“Haha! Yes!” cheered Jake. “Classic Retro gaming at its finest!” He played until he got 1,000 points. The Wizard appeared again.

“ _Joust_ was released in 1982,” he lectured, “and was one of the earliest arcade games to feature two-player cooperative gameplay. The whole game is based around armored knights riding ostriches jousting against enemies on giant buzzards. This idea was conceived from wanting to create a flying game that wasn’t set in space.” He vanished again.

“Then, why not use dragons?” asked Build as he took the Fullbottles out and cancelled his transformation.

“Why use those wicked things?!” protested Gandalf.

“Wicked?” asked Ex-aid as he closed the Gamer Driver.

“GACHON!” it announced. He then took the Gashat out. “GASHUN!” Ex-aid went back to being Emu. Sengoku and I became Hiroki and Livia again.

“Well, in Gandalf’s world, dragons are ALL evil,” I explained. “Bred by Morgoth, Sauron’s old boss.”

“I see,” muttered Sento. I then noticed that Shade didn’t cancel her transformation.

“Er, Shade?” I asked.

“Not yet,” she replied, guessing my question. “Not until these events settle themselves. For now, we need to get to the basement.” We took Shade’s advice and headed downstairs. We could see the rocket from _Defender_ patrolling the back, trapped behind a boiler.

“I got this,” assured Jake. He drank another soda, then shot lasers from his eyes like Superman! It freed the rocket, then it fired on us!

“Well, how’s THAT for gratitude?!” I hissed. Emu jumped up and brought the rocket down. At that point, we found the _Defender_ game.

“ _Defender_!” called Jake as he started playing. “Classic space shooter! 1981 arcade release!” Once he got to 2,000, the rocket vanished and the Wizard came back to give us more history.

“When _Defender_ was released in 1981,” he commented, “many people were cautious of its complicated control scheme and high difficulty level. Ultimately, it was these very elements that made it such a huge success as they helped it to stand out as something different within the busy arcades.” When the Wizard vanished, we then noticed a buzzing noise. We turned to see a tiny car racing around a track! Jake got an idea.

“Guys, you turn over the oil drums when I say so!” he called. “I’ll lower the crossing bar, then we herd it towards the tiny garage!” We got into position. “Ready?” he asked. The car approached the oil drums. “NOW!” yelled Jake. We turned the oil drums over and spilled the contents over the track, causing the car to lose control, then Jake lowered the bar once the car was near him, then we herded it towards the tiny garage. It was stuck.

“I think that car came from _Super Sprint_ ,” I mused.

“Oh, cool!” cheered Jake. “ _Super Sprint_! Released in 1986 to the joy of everyone! Anyone else want a turn at these things? My fingers are getting numb.”

“I’ll handle it,” I called as I found the Super Sprint machine. I won a race and the Wizard came up again.

“The arcade machine for _Super Sprint_ ,” he lectured, “released in 1986, featured three wheels as a way of controlling the cars and also allowed for three players to race each other at the same time. If the player managed to reach Race 85, a bonus track could then be played.” As he vanished, he started glitching out and we could see a trail leading into a back room. It was guarded by a security camera that shut the door whenever it saw us, so Jake went invisible and he snuck through, killing power to the door. At that point, we were attacked by the Wizard and the rest of the _Gauntlet_ heroes.

“I guess we beat them first!” mused Emu as he got the Gashat out again.

“MIGHTY ACTION X!” it announced. Sento brought out the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles, shook them, and put them into the Build Driver.

“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” it called. Sento turned the crank and the piping appeared. “ARE YOU READY?!” Hiroki and I drew our i.d. tags.

“Henshin!” we all announced

“GASHATTO! GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” shouted Emu’s belt.

“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBITTANK! YEAH!” called the Build Driver. All Riders were back into our suits and we went on the offensive. It involved a lot of punching, but we managed to subdue them.

“I think it’s your turn, Sengoku,” I offered.

“Gladly,” replied Sengoku. He started playing _Gauntlet_ as the warrior character.

“What IS this game?” asked Build.

“This is _Gauntlet_ ,” answered Jake. “It was released in 1985 and it is THE most fun a quarter can buy!”

“DAMMIT!” swore Sengoku.

“You died?” I asked.

“Er, can I get some help?” quizzed Sengoku.

“Sure thing,” called Jake. Ex-aid, Jake, and I joined in the fun. Sengoku stayed as the Warrior, I picked the Valkyrie, Jake picked the Elf, and Ex-aid picked the Wizard. We soon netted 3,000 points and the characters we fought recovered from their haze. The Wizard recovered first.

“Thor?!” he quizzed. “Thyra?! Questor?! Were we all possessed?!”

“It would appear so, Merlin,” replied Questor, the Elf.

“How did we end up in the real world?” asked Thyra, the Valkyrie.

“I’d say Vortech had a hand in it,” I called. We explained our situation to the _Gauntlet_ heroes.

“Well then, you have our everlasting gratitude,” thanked Thor, the Warrior.

“You say you beat our game?” quizzed Merlin, the Wizard. “One last bit of history before your final battle here. Our game, released in 1985, featured drop-in, drop-out gameplay for up to four players. With four people playing at the same time, it was seen as the answer for struggling arcade manufacturers to create extra earnings whilst creating a very fun game in the process.” We heard something buzz. “Ah, that would be your way up,” mused Merlin. “Farewell and good luck.”

“You’re not coming?!” yelped Jake.

“You guys beat his game,” answered Shade. “He and the other _Gauntlet_ heroes are going back into their electronic slumber.”

“It was good to meet you, my friends,” called Thyra. We all shook hands with them, then they faded into pixels and returned to their game. We headed out to the elevator and took it all the way to the roof. There, we saw Caan speaking to Heather!

“You’re making a mistake!” insisted Caan.

“The Apocalypse Driver will bring me back with a fully functional body!” argued Heather.

“You seem to be missing the big picture about the consequences,” snarled Caan.

“And you idiots seem to forget about your enemies!” I revealed. At that point, Caan smirked and pulled out the device the Thief used to turn himself into a Bugster!

“The Gashacon Bugvisor?!” called Sengoku.

“Baiyō,” announced Caan as he used the blaster end of the device to spray Jake with orange pixels. Jake started spasming, then morphing until he became George from _Rampage_! “Quite the Bugster, wouldn’t you say?” asked Caan.

“Bingo!” cheered Heather. She punched Jake’s monstrous form and got out a quarter circle. It had a canister’s image on it. “Two parts down, three to go,” she mused. She then fled through a rift!

“NO!” I shouted. Too late.

“Won’t do her any good,” mused Shade.

“Never mind the talk!” snapped Sengoku. “Jake just became a Bugster!”

“I’ll remove it!” replied Ex-aid as he closed the Gamer Driver.

“GACHON!” it announced as Ex-aid went into his level 1 form. He went on the offensive to keep Jake back.

“Now, for you,” hissed Caan. He pulled out a version of the Build Driver that was done up in the colors of a Dalek’s shell. The gear was replaced with a Dalek’s eye. He put the belt on.

“DAL DRIVER!” called the belt in a Dalek’s voice.

“A vastly superior version of the Build Driver,” boasted Caan. “And this,” he took out a can with a dome on top, “is my Pure Dalek can.” He shook the can and turned the dome so a Dalek eyestalk could come out and the speech indicators would pop out. He then put it into the Dal Driver as it took up both slots.

“PURE DALEK!” it announced. Caan then turned the crank and piping came out, forming parts of a suit behind and in front of him. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Dal Driver.

“Henshin!” called Caan. The suit slammed onto him, giving him a distinctly Dalek appearance. He had shoulder pads that looked like half of a Dalek’s neck, boots that resembled a Dalek’s skirt, and a blue light in the center of the head. His eyes took their cues from Build, the left giving the appearance of the Dalek gun, the right giving the appearance of their plunger. The left forearm looked like the gun and the right had a sleeve similar to their plunger as well.

“THE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!” shrieked the Dal Driver. “PURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!”

“Kamen Rider Dal!” droned Caan in his old Dalek voice. As he spoke, the eyes flashed like the lights on a Dalek. “You will be exterminated!” More piping formed a pistol with a Dalek gun on the end.

“DAL GUN!” announced the Dal Driver. He caught the gun in his left hand. We dodged the blasts as Shade assisted Ex-aid. Gandalf helped us keep Dal at bay.

“You may win this universe,” boasted Dal, “but Shocker Rift will win the entire Multiverse!”

“Not gonna happen!” I declared.

“I have foreseen it!” replied Dal. “It is inevitable!”

“You can’t win!” I insisted.

“We’ll stop you!” called Sengoku.

“You do not have the capacity to do so!” shouted Dal.

“EX-AID! NOW!” yelled Shade. Ex-aid hammered George and managed to separate Jake from George. Jake was…lacking…in clothes aside from his tighty-whities. Jake got out of his haze, then felt the draft around his legs. He covered his crotch and sidled off. “I got you,” assured Shade as Ex-aid went to Level 2 again. Clothes came back onto Jake.

“Thanks!” called Jake.

“KIMEWAZA!” announced the Gamer Driver. “MIGHTY CRITICAL STRIKE!” Ex-aid then did his Rider Kick and knocked George silly.

“My turn!” called Jake as he found the _Rampage_ machine.

“NO!” shouted Dal as he leveled his gun at Jake.

“RIDER CLASH KICK!” I announced as I delivered my kick to his head. Dal recovered as he turned the crank again.

“READY, GO!” shouted the Dal Driver. An orangish hologram of a Special Weapons Dalek gun enveloped Dal and targeted us. “PURE DALEK FINISH! EXTERMINATE!” announced the Dal Driver as the hologram fired Dal in a flying kick before it faded. We ducked out of the way and Dal hit a wall, just as Jake finished the first level of Rampage. That was all that was needed to put George back. Build then turned the crank of his Build Driver.

“READY, GO!” it called as an energy chart trapped Dal in its dotted line. “VORTEX FINISH! YEAH!” Build then flew down the line and drove his right foot into Dal’s head. There was an explosion that knocked Dal backwards and made the Pure Dalek can pop out of the Dal Driver, causing him to revert back to Caan.

“Pitiful creatures!” he hissed as he picked himself up.

“Caan,” I called, “you REALLY need to drop this whole Dalek business. One of our allies did and her life is for the better now.”

“I’m familiar with the Ex-Dalek that the Doctor nicknamed Rusty!” snapped Caan. “She is weak!”

“Hardly,” I argued. “She’s stronger than any Dalek fleet. She’s allowed diversity to enter her genetics and it made her stronger. If you promise to drop this notion of purity, we can grant you asylum. What say you?”

“Vortech, I require a rift back!” demanded Caan. A rift to Foundation Prime opened for him and he went through!

“NO!” I called. “Accidenti a lui! (Damn him!) We could have used him!”

“I think the ONE Dalek we have is enough,” replied Sengoku.

“Caan is not someone who gives up his Dalek ways so easily,” confirmed Shade.

“In any case, we failed our mission,” I sighed. I contacted Vorton. “X-PO, we need a ride home.”

“Coming up,” called X-PO. A rift opened for us and Shade , Ex-aid, and Build started following us.

“You’re coming with us?” I asked.

“You’re my only way home,” replied Ex-aid.

“And I want to see your base!” cheered Build.

“Besides, I’m needed on Vorton,” replied Shade.

“Fair enough,” I conceded.

“What about you, Master Jake?” asked Gandalf. Jake looked around and still saw video game characters running around.

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit,” he mused. “The world still needs the Gamer Kid!”

“Then, farewell,” I bid. “And I hope we meet again.” We went through the rift after that and left Jake to take on his new mantle as the Gamer Kid.


	63. Chapter 63

“I revealed myself to be Kamen Rider Shade when we got back,” answered Kaede once Livia finished.

“So you DID resort to magic one time!” called a voice. It was 70-year-old me!

“I didn’t actually follow through with it!” wailed Kaede.

“You were about to use magic!” argued 70-year-old me.

“This is monumentally bad,” gulped Michael.

“How so?” I asked.

“Caan’s returned, mentally, to his old Dalek ways,” explained Michael. “Hating other lifeforms, that’s bad enough, but he’s now in a form he considers impure. He’s being driven mad by his own flesh. The stink of his ancestral Kaled genes. He hates his own existence and that makes him deadlier than ever.”

“Not exactly something Daleks want to do,” mused Rusty, “hating their flesh.”

“Can you guys give any hint on him?” I asked my future and her children.

“No need to worry about him,” assured 70-year-old me. “He’ll die a few years from now.”

“It’s gonna be a surprise for him,” replied Kaede.

“Caan isn’t exactly someone to underestimate,” muttered Michael.

“Maybe,” I commented, “but enough about that Dalek, let’s talk about Haitao and Joshua! Where are they?”

“Right here, Your Majesty,” called Joshua. “Boy, do we have a story to tell you!”

* * *

“I really don’t see why you’re making such a fuss, after she failed you,” I said to Vortech.

“Making a fuss?!” snapped Vortech. “Caan, she’s got intimate knowledge about our operations!”

“She’s not interested in us anymore and she hates the Vortex Riders as much as we do,” I assured Vortech. “We’re fine.”

“Forgive me if I’m skeptic,” replied Vortech.

“Trust the one who looked into the Time Vortex, we’re fine!” I insisted.

* * *

“Has anyone found Heather?” asked War.

“She’s building near Hell’s outskirts,” I whispered.

“I felt it too,” wheezed Pestilence. Famine mumbled a response.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” I whispered sharply. Famine mumbled “Excuse me,” and swallowed whatever she was eating.

“So why aren’t we there?” she said before chowing down again.

“Sonic’s presence concerns me,” I responded, fear creeping into my soft voice. “If he’s the Sonic from THAT universe, it could prove catastrophic if the Vortex Riders find out.”

“You mean…you think Sonic may be the Sonic from the combined universe resulting from Clusters C-Y-8-3-R-T-R-0-N and 5-3-G-4?” War grunted.

“The same,” I replied. “If it is, we may experience the Convergence a lot sooner than we’re ready for.”

“I wish you didn’t say that,” wheezed Pestilence.


	64. Chapter 64

Let me tell you, Your Majesty, our adventure was a wild one! We landed in Hill Valley in 1985, and I do mean landed. The rift opened up in the sky and dumped us onto someone! As we were picking ourselves up, we were apologizing over and over to the poor person turned crash mat. “It’s all right!” she assured us in an American Neutral accent. “Accidents…” she faced us and got a good look at us just as we got a good look at her. She was of Japanese descent and dress like a princess, complete with a large pink dress and a tiara. She had ginger hair and emerald eyes, currently wide with some form of surprise. “No…” she breathed.

“Sorry?” I asked.

“No, not now!” she moaned. “I’m busy!”

“Er…why don’t we start over?” suggested Haitao. “I’m…”

“Haitao Lin,” interrupted the princess. “And the Aussie over there,” she pointed at me, “is Joshua Williams. And she's Wyldstyle.”

“…Who the hell are you?!” asked Haitao.

“And you’re the one who wants to be a diplomat?” Wyldstyle joked.

“I can’t tell you, not yet,” sighed the princess. “I wasn’t supposed to show you my face! My sister’s gonna laugh for YEARS about this!”

“Er, is there something we should know?” I asked.

“I’m from your future,” replied the princess. “All you should know about me is my Rider name, Kamen Rider Spark.” That was when I noticed a jeweled belt on her waist.

“Oh, a Kamen Rider!” called Wyldstyle.

“Yeah, and there’s supposed to be someone else with you,” realized the princess. At that point, I swear I could hear voices.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” shrieked one. I identified this one as Heather. She then ran past us with something in pursuit. It looked like sand had formed a shape both in the air and on the ground. On the ground was the upper torso of a monster and its lower torso was in the air directly above it! The legs had hooves while the upper torso had deer antlers on its head and hoof-like fingertips.

“Your wish,” demanded the creature.

“My what?!” yelped Heather.

“Tell me your wish,” the creature elaborated.

“Why should I?!” asked Heather.

“I can grant you any wish,” replied the creature, “but a price must be paid.”

“…Any wish?” asked Heather.

“Any wish,” repeated the creature.

“…You know, I think I may need you,” mused Heather. “There’s something in this universe called the Famine Dial Part. I need that to complete my belt. Can you help me find it?”

“Easily,” boasted the creature.

“What’s the catch?” asked Heather.

“I’ll just need to know the date of your most precious moment,” answered the creature.

“Just that?” asked Heather. “All right then, we have a deal.” The creature’s legs then dropped to the ground and the upper torso went on top of the legs. His sandy complexion gave way to show a brown creature with a deer-like appearance.

“The Deer Imagin!” breathed the princess.

“It’s somewhere around here,” mused the Deer Imagin.

“DOC, ARE YOU TELLING ME IT’S 8:25?!” shouted a voice we’re all familiar with. “DAMN! I’M LATE FOR SCHOOL!” Marty ran out of the house and knocked the Deer Imagin aside.

“That’s him!” called the Imagin. “That’s the one that has your part!”

“Let’s get him!” roared Heather.

“NO, YOU DON’T!” I shouted as we leapt out of hiding. We tackled them and they tried to get us off. Our scuffle woke someone up from a bush, then we heard the Sword Form jingle.

“Henshin!” announced the person.

“Sword Form!” called the voice of Den-O’s belt. We all turned to see Den-O as his Sword Form armor attached itself onto him.

“Ore…sanjou!” shouted Den-O as he assembled his sword and started swinging. The Deer Imagin managed to block with just his hands. Meanwhile, the princess got her belt ready and pulled out a pink crystal sphere, pressing a button on it. It flashed before speaking.

“SPARK!” it called. The princess then opened her belt buckle and put the sphere inside. A pink mist was gracefully coiling around her. When it got to her navel, she snapped her fingers, in both hands as well.

“Henshin!” she declared. The mist then formed an entire cloud surrounding her and light flashed inside three times before the princess chopped her way out, making the cloud disperse. Her Rider form was white with pink highlights and hearts on her rounded shoulders, front, elbows, knees, and toes. “Kamen Rider Spark,” introduced the princess. “Hatred shall be your undoing!” She charged at Heather, her gauntlets flashing her claws, and started scratching. Heather tried to get away, but to no avail.

“Get out of here!” she bellowed.

“Not a chance!” shouted Spark.

“We better help them,” Haitao said to me.

“Right,” I replied. We drew our i.d. tags.

“Henshin!” we announced as we donned our suits. Zhànshì helped Spark with Heather while I took care of the Deer Imagin with Den-O.

“Move aside!” shouted the Imagin. “I have a contract to complete!”

“We’re not leaving!” declared Den-O. “You think I’ll leave this fight in such a manner?! You’re dealing with me! I don’t do warm-ups and I don’t do warning shots! I turn my fights up to 11! From start to finish, I go for the climax!”

“I’ll end your climax just as quick as you started it!” the Deer Imagin shouted. “You’ll be crying in pain when I’m through with you!”

“ACK!” yelped Den-O. “DON’T SAY THAT!!” He then heard something and turned his head skywards. “No, Kuma! No one’s crying!” At that point, Kintaros knocked Momotaros out of Ryōtarō’s body. The Sword Form armor vanished as Den-O looked at the two Imagin wrestling on the ground. “Come on!” wailed Momotaros. “We were getting to the good part!”

“Take a break!” demanded Kintaros as he tossed Momotaros aside and possessed Ryōtarō. Den-O then pressed the yellow button and swiped the pass.

“Does that happen a lot?” Wyldstyle wondered.

“Axe Form!” called the belt as the armor appeared for Axe Form.

“Ore no tsuyosa ni, omae ga naita!” declared Den-O. He then cracked his neck. “Namida wa kore de fuitoke!” He turned the sword into an axe and was hitting the Deer Imagin with it multiple times. The Imagin then stopped the axe to sniff the air.

“DAMMIT! WE’VE LOST HIM!” shouted the Imagin.

“We’ve got another chance,” assured Heather. “If I remember right, Marty will be at Twin Pines Mall at 1:15 AM. We’ll get him there!”

“No one’s getting anyone!” declared Spark as she pressed a button on her belt.

“FINISH SPARK!” it called. Spark then leapt into the air.

“SPARK: RIDER KICK!” she announced as she gave her Rider Kick. Heather was smart enough to throw a trashcan in the air to block the kick, throwing Spark off balance. She and the Deer Imagin ran off as Spark landed. “Dammit!” she swore as she cancelled her transformation. “Well, we’ll have to go to Twin Pines Mall to ambush her.”

“Meanwhile,” I recalled, “Strickland gave Marty his fourth tardy slip, called him a slacker like his father, then has to see his dad cave in to Biff Tannen’s demands.”

“Sounds like the kid’s got worse luck than Ryōtarō,” replied Momotaros.

“We can change that,” declared Kintaros as he stepped out of Ryōtarō.

“We’re not changing anything!” snapped the princess.

“She’s right,” I confirmed.

“We can’t change his history,” agreed Haitao.

“Not even a smidge,” mused Wyldstyle.

“WHAT?!” snapped Momotaros.

“I’m sorry,” replied the princess, “but the events we’ve described are fixed points in the multiverse. What happens, happens. We’ve got to let him continue with his currently sucky life.”

“Says who?!” snapped Momotaros.

“Says me!” answered the princess, hotly.

“What, and you’re in charge?!” asked Momotaros.

“Princess, time-traveler, yeah!” declared the princess.

“Momotaros, Imagin, no!” countered Momotaros. “I don’t need your permission to end his bad luck! I’ll do it myself!”

“You even try,” hissed the princess, “and they’ll think you a lunatic! Come on! Twin Pines! We’re going there!”

“I’ve got something to say about that!” shouted Momotaros.

“Oh, I BET you do!” replied the princess.

“Momotaros, I’m sorry,” I calmed, “but if we try to change the outcome now, it may give Heather what she wants.” Momotaros grumbled but subsided.

“Fine, we’ll let him be,” he sighed.

“Good,” declared the princess. “Now then, to Twin Pines Mall!”

* * *

It was 1:15 when we arrived. We kept to the shadows so no one could see us. Marty was taping the unveiling of the DeLorean. “Never mind that now!” Dr. Brown said twice over. Marty hoisted the camera up and started filming.

“All right, I’m ready,” he called.

“Good Evening!” Dr. Brown said to the camera. “Good evening, I'm Doctor Emmett Brown. I'm standing on the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall. It's Saturday morning, October 26, 1985, 1:18 a.m. and this is temporal experiment number one.” He then got his dog, a sheepdog called Einstein. “C'mon, Einy! Hey, hey boy, get in there! That a boy, in you go! Get down, that's it!”

“All right, so far so good,” I muttered.

“Please note that Einstein's clock is in complete synchronization with my control watch,” called Doc Brown.

“Right, check, Doc,” replied Marty.

“Good,” cheered Doc Brown. He turned to his dog in the DeLorean. “Have a good trip, Einstein, watch your head.” He shut the door and brought out his remote control.

“You have this thing hooked up to the car?” asked Marty.

“Watch this!” directed Doc Brown. “Not me, the car, the car! If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour, you’re gonna see some serious sh*t!” He started the car up. “Watch this, watch this!” The car then rushed towards the two and generated a light show around the front before it disappeared in a bright light and left a pair of fire trails on either side of the two. “Ha! What did I tell you?!” cheered Doc Brown “Eighty-eight miles per hour! The temporal displacement occurred at exactly 1:20 a.m. and zero seconds!”

“THAT POOR DOG!” wailed Ryōtarō.

“He disintegrated him!” yelped Wyldstyle

“No one’s disintegrated!” I assured the two. “Einstein’s all right!”

“Then, where the hell is he?!” shouted Momotaros.

“Not ‘where’ the hell, ‘when’ the hell,” corrected Haitao.

“Doc Brown modified that DeLorean to become a time machine,” I explained. “Einstein was sent one minute into the future.” Another flash heralded the DeLorean’s arrival. It was covered in frost. Doc opened the door to show Marty proof of Einstein’s trip. He then showed how to operate the main function of the DeLorean. When he got to the bit about him swiping the plutonium he needed from Libyan Nationalists, Momotaros sniffed the air.

“What are you doing?” asked Haitao.

“You can smell the Imagin?” quizzed Ryōtarō.

“It’s close!” replied Momotaros.

“Uh oh,” I gulped as history was unfolding in the correct order. The Libyan Nationalists were approaching Marty and Doc Brown! And right behind them were Heather and the Deer Imagin! “Stop them!” I shouted. We charged out of the bushes, ready to transform. Ryōtarō pressed the red button as the princes pulled her pink crystal out and pressed the button.

“SPARK!” it called. Haitao and I drew our i.d. tags.

“Henshin!” we all announced.

“Sword Form!” called Den-O’s belt as Momotaros possessed Ryōtarō.

“Ore sanjou!” declared Den-O as he quickly assembled his sword. We managed to intercept the duo and keep them distracted.

“I thought I made it clear we will brook no interference!” roared the Deer Imagin as his horns glowed. He charged right at me, knocking me down and winding me! As I was gasping in pain, my transformation was cancelled. The Imagin picked me up. “Now, pay the price!” As he reeled back for a punch, a gunshot rang out and Doc Brown fell to the ground. Marty hid in the DeLorean and gunned the engine. It ran straight at us before it vanished and we stood in between a pair of flaming tire trails.

“HE TRAVELED BACK IN TIME!” roared Heather. “THAT’S CHEATING! NOW WE’RE NEVER GONNA GET HIM!”

“Don’t be so sure,” assured the Deer Imagin as he opened me up like a door. “This way!” he called. He and Heather then went through me and I shut behind them.

“What just happened?!” I gulped.

“That only happens when an Imagin hold up its end of the deal with whoever made a contract with it!” yelped Den-O.

“He just used your most precious memory of this universe to travel back to that time!” elaborated Spark.

“November 5, 1955!” I breathed. “The day Doc Brown invented time travel!”

“I’d use my motorcycle,” muttered Spark, “but there’s only room for one, I don’t have sidecars, and the Flux Capacitor hasn’t been installed yet!”

“And Ryōtarō can’t afford to have you all on his pass,” sighed Den-O. “He’s stretching it with the five of us already.” Spark then got an idea.

“I DO have something,” she assured. She then cancelled her transformation and pulled a key from a hidden pocket in her dress. She fiddled with it for a bit. “If I got this right, we’ll be borrowing her for a bit while the events in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1st of that year are being preserved.”

“Who?” I asked. At that point, a familiar Vworp filled my ears. We turned to see the TARDIS appear!

“The Doctor’s not a taxi driver!” protested Wyldstyle.

“The Doctor and her companions are making sure Rosa Parks’ point in history is preserved,” assured the princess. “We’re just borrowing the TARDIS.”

“How are we gonna fit in there?!” Den-O asked.

“It’s not as cramped as you think,” I explained. “You might want to have ALL of the Den-Liner Crew here.” Den-O cancelled his transformation and Momotaros stepped out of Ryōtarō while Urataros, Kintaros, Ryutaros, and Sieg appeared. We entered the TARDIS and the Den-Liner crew gawked at the interior. It had changed when last I saw it. It had gears inside hexagons on the walls and lights inside other hexagons and the time rotor in the center of the console was one large crystal and there were crystal struts that angled towards the crystal in the center.

“Oh, she redecorated,” I mused. “I don’t like it!”

“This is impossible!” breathed Ryōtarō.

“It’s…bigger on the inside!” squawked Momotaros.

“This is, or ought to be, the Doctor’s TARDIS,” replied Haitao. “But, when we last saw it, it looked like a fancy kitchen, not a crystal cave.”

“Right then, November 5th, 1955, Hill Valley, California, United States of America, Earth, Mutter’s Spiral, universe B-A-C-K-T-0-T-H-3-F-U-T-U-R-3!” mused the princess as she fiddled with the controls. She then yanked on the large lever and the crystal time rotor went up and down with the struts’ tips going up and down in sync. As the TARDIS was in flight, the princess danced around the console, flipping switches and pressing buttons to keep the Doctor’s home steady. Soon, the time rotor stopped and there was a distinct thud. The princess then turned a monitor on in the wall and we saw the outside.

“That’s the barn Marty crashed into!” I revealed. And, soon enough, there was the DeLorean crashing through the barn.

“I can’t find the Imagin or Heather!” replied the princess.

“Then we may have beat them here,” Wyldstyle guessed. “Let’s get out of here and keep a close eye on Marty.”

“Right,” everyone confirmed as we left the TARDIS. It then took off on its own.

“Thank you!” the princess called to the winds. We then took off and followed Marty very closely as he improved his dad’s life and helped the Doctor Brown of this era rig up something from the town hall clock that would generate 1.21 gigawatts of power for the DeLorean to get back to 1985.


	65. Chapter 65

The storm was getting nearer and nearer and time was against us! Marty’s parents met, albeit in different circumstances than Marty’s original history, and the Doc had just wired everything up. Marty wasn’t here yet! “Come on!” I whispered. “Damn, where is that kid?!”

“He should be here any minute!” hissed Haitao.

“There he is!” called Ryōtarō.

“Okay, he’s trying to give Doc Brown the letter!” I observed. “There’s the Doc, tearing it up!”

“Hey, there they are!” called Wyldstyle. Running towards the duo were Heather and the Deer Imagin!

“Everyone,” declared Ryōtarō as he drew out the phone, “we’re doing it together!”

“Darn straight!” confirmed the princess. She got her crystal out and pressed the button.

“SPARK!” it called. Ryōtarō then opened the phone.

“Henshin!” we announced as we ran towards Heather and the Deer Imagin. Ryōtarō pressed a button on the side of the phone and set it over the buckle.

“Climax Form!” shouted the belt as all the Imagin of the Den-Liner crew jumped into him. The Climax Form armor appeared and Den-O was ready.

“Ore-tachi…sanjou!” declared Den-O.

“Not you idiots again!” groaned Heather. We clashed again as Marty backed the DeLorean up. “Will you leave us alone!?!” roared Heather.

“You’re playing with fire!” warned Zhànshì. “If you make that belt, it’ll burn half the multiverse!”

“Like I care!” snapped Heather. “I’m coming back with a fully functioning body, one way or another!”

“Wait, what?!” said the Deer Imagin. Heather then used the Imagin as a club and swung him into us before tossing him aside.

“Let me tell you right now, you kangaroo,” Heather said to me, “if Marty returns to the future because of your interference, I will change the outcome of the whole trilogy very quickly!”

“I won’t let that happen!” I declared. I swung my blade across her front. She sparked as my blade made contact.

“What happened to the purity of unarmed combat?!” she asked.

“Again with that vile word!” I shouted.

“What, combat?” quizzed Heather.

“Purity, you idiot!” I insulted. “Gods, a kid with worse autism than ME could pick that up! It should be easier for a neurotypical like you! Unless, you’ve got a worse case of autism than me. It IS a spectrum disorder.”

“CALL ME A RETARD LIKE YOU, WILL YOU?!” roared Heather as she decked me.

“I didn’t even say ‘retard’!” I protested as I picked myself up. “You’re just hearing things!” Heather kept her focus on me while the rest dealt with the Deer Imagin.

“Dude, she’s playing you for a fool!” warned Spark.

“She thinks that,” chuckled the Imagin, “but I’ll have the last laugh!”

“She’s not gonna fulfill her end of the contract!” insisted Den-O. “She’ll leave you to turn back into sand!”

“I do not listen to traitors!” snarled the Imagin.

“That’s it,” sighed Spark, “we need more range.” She pulled a wand out and pressed a button. It curved itself and grew, becoming more metallic until it became a gun.

“WAND MAGNUM!” it announced. Spark then fired off six shots to keep him at bay. Then, we heard it.

“If that crackle is anything to go by…” muttered Wyldstyle.

“NO!” bellowed Heather as she turned around to see Marty go back to 1985.

“It’s…it’s gone!” gulped the Deer Imagin.

“What do you mean?!” demanded Heather.

“The part’s been lost to the winds of time!” explained the Imagin. “Even if I get us to the future, it won’t do any good! The part’s gone!”

“You…utter…FAILURE!” roared Heather as she decked the Imagin. “I’VE LOST MY CHANCE! I WAS GONNA BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE WITH A PAIR OF FUNCTIONING OVARIES! THANKS TO YOU, I CAN’T DO THAT!”

“Is that what this is about?!” snarled the Imagin. “You just wanted to come back to life?! A weak creature like you?! It’s not important now! I’ll rip you apart! You are such a disgrace to your own pathetic, mongrel species!” The two then started clashing. “Besides, we’re both in the same boat!”

“I was gonna spread my purity all over the multiverse!” shouted Heather. “I was gonna rule all life! If no one would serve willingly, I’d break their minds! I’d force them to serve me!”

“THAT WASN’T OUR DEAL!” roared the Imagin. “I’m supposed to destroy a key moment in time to bring my future back, NOT BE AN ETERNAL SLAVE TO YOU!”

“I don’t listen to the ambitions of my inferiors!” yelled Heather as she broke the Imagin’s snout. When he reeled back, something flew out and landed at her feet. She picked it up and examined it, giving a smirk. “Well now,” she chuckled, “it seems I had the wrong target. It wasn’t possessed by a boy who was starved for a better life, but rather, a creature who was starved for his old future. Contract complete.” As we rushed at her, she flew through a rift that opened beneath her. It shut before we could follow her.

“YOU BLOODY EAR-BASHING DOG!” I shouted. I felt a hand on me and saw Zhànshì trying to get me to cool off. The Deer Imagin then fell to his knees as sand fell from him.

“No! I can’t die! Not like this!” he wailed.

“What’s with him?” I asked Den-O.

“Whenever we Imagin lose our contract holders,” replied Den-O in Sieg’s voice, “we simply turn into a pile of sand, never to be reconstructed again.”

“Heather most likely forgot about him,” clarified Spark as she cancelled her transformation. “Imagin need someone to remember them.”

“NO!” roared the Deer Imagin. “I won’t do it! Not like this! I REFUSE!” He slammed his hands to the ground and flashed a bright light from his body. When we could finally see, he wasn’t leaking sand.

“…That hasn’t happened before!” yelped Den-O in Momotaros’ voice.

“I have a theory,” gulped the princess.

“And that is?” asked Zhànshì as we cancelled our transformations and the Den-Liner crew came out of Ryōtarō.

“The Deer Imagin is in my time’s history books,” replied the princess. “He’s remembered by someone.”

“And that person,” continued the Imagin as he stood up, “was kind enough to give me this.” He turned slowly so we could see the new belt he was sporting. It was similar to Den-O’s but was more fanged around the symbol. “Luckily for you,” the Imagin continued, “I have no need to fight you lot.”

“What are you gonna do about it?!” hissed Wyldstyle. “You’re trapped here with us!”

“LOOK OUT!” I warned as Marty ran up to Doc Brown who was trying to piece it together in his panic. We hid and watched the scene unfold.

“Okay, relax, Doc! It’s me, it’s me! It’s Marty!” called Marty.

“No, it can’t be!” stammered Doc Brown. “I just sent you back to the future!”

“I know, you DID send me back to the future,” replied Marty, “but I’m back. I’m back FROM the future.”

“…Great Scott!” breathed Doc Brown. That was when he fainted and Marty tried to get him back to consciousness.

“Well, I’ll take my leave,” mused the Deer Imagin. “Ta ta!” He opened a door and stepped into what looked like a train car instead of a room. He shut it when he went inside.

“STOP HIM!” I called. I opened the door to see that it opened into a shop.

“He’s got his own time train?!” snapped Momotaros.

“Oh dear,” mumbled Ryōtarō.

“Now we’re trapped!” I shouted.

“Not if that noise is any indication,” replied the princess. It was the TARDIS arriving again.

“The Doctor’s gonna be mad that you borrowed the TARDIS without permission,” muttered Haitao.

“I didn’t ask for it this time,” gulped the princess. The Doctor stepped out looking right mad.

“This won't end well,” Wyldstyle predicted.

“You!” snapped the Doctor as she pointed at the princess. “Inside! Now! You lot, as well!”

“I am SO grounded,” sighed the princess. We boarded the TARDIS and saw who the Doctor was travelling with this time. There was a young black man, a young woman of Pakistani descent, and an old man. They were respectively called Ryan Sinclair, Yasmin Khan, and Graham O’Brien.

“How long did you lot travel with the Doctor?” I asked.

“Long enough to swear off of Amazon for a while,” replied Ryan.

“Swear off of bubble wrap for a while!” added Yasmin, Yas, as she’s called to her friends.

“Seriously,” muttered Graham as he was taking his shades off and putting them in the pocket of his swim trunks, “I was enjoying getting my tan on Florana and then you lot steal the TARDIS!”

“Hold on, SHE stole it!” I protested as I pointed to the princess.

“You didn’t stop her!” argued Yas. “That makes you accomplices!”

“You ought to listen to her,” supplied Ryan, “she’s a policewoman.”

“Right, off to Vorton,” declared the Doctor. “Hey! I just remembered! This is Ryan, Graham, and Yas’ first trip to another universe!”

“Glad you’re happy,” muttered the princess, wondering how she was gonna tell her mum about this.


	66. Chapter 66

“I was the princess,” muttered Kaitlyn.

“The TARDIS is not a toy!” shouted 70-year-old me.

“Er, where IS the Den-Liner crew?” I asked.

“After we came back,” explained Joshua, “the Den-Liner came here to pick them up. They’re already gone.”

“And WE need to go as well,” continued 70-year-old me.

“It’s nice to know that my future is in good hands,” I replied.

“You were the one who made that choice,” observed 70-year-old me. She opened up a time rift. “Goodbye, Megumi.”

“Goodbye, Megumi,” I bid as we both bowed. They all soon went back to their original time. “Oof! My head!” I complained. “Time travel’s just one nuisance after another!”

“Speaking of time,” interjected Richard, “it’s against us. Heather’s probably finishing it up now!”

“Get Emily and have her join us in the Gateway Room,” I directed. “Batman, Hongo, Wyldstyle, Gandalf, Lacey, with me.”

“Not that I want to question you,” argued Richard, “but are you sure sending Emily after Heather is a good idea?”

“Heather may attack in a blind rage,” I admitted, “but she can cause damage. I want a medic with us. Besides, it might be the best way for Emily to get closure on Heather. I can just imagine her face now as she lords victory over her old nemesis and high school bully.”

“Very well,” conceded Richard. He headed off to find Emily as the rest of the team joined me. Lacey called up Death on her phone and informed her we would meet her at After Academy. After she finished the call, she gave the technical team the coordinates and they set the Gateway for that location. Rusty gave the thumbs-up as Emily joined us.

“Ready to close the book on her?” I asked.

“Do you even need to ask?” replied Emily.

“Let’s go, then!” I declared. The rift opened and we charged through.

* * *

After Academy is certainly opulent, I can tell you. The Four Horsemen joined us a few seconds later. “Had to confirm something,” whispered Death.

“And?” I asked.

“Nothing you need to know just yet,” whispered Death. “Come. We have work to do.” We made our way to a cave on the outskirts of the school and had examined all of the bits and pieces of technology strewn about the place.

“Does she even know what half this stuff is?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she found out,” muttered Emily. That got our attention. “Heather has more in common with the Daleks than just her racism. She’s a genius in terms of mechanical skill.”

“A pity she didn’t put it to good use,” I lamented.

“There she is!” whispered Hongo. Heather was busy using a solder on something, her knockoff Apocalypse Driver, in all likelihood. We then saw her put the tool down.

“Done!” she cheered. “It’s finished!” I nodded to my team.

“So are you!” roared Emily.

“You!” snarled Heather as she turned to us.

“Heather, you don’t want to do this!” I warned.

“What I don’t want,” insisted Heather, “is interference from you freaks!” She came at us with wild punches. Hongo struck his pose and we got our i.d. tags out. The Horsemen and Lacey we’re ready as well.

“Rider…” called Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced. We changed and the fight began. Heather tried to slam her fists on to my head, but Apocalypse kicked her in the stomach. Heather tried to change her target to Apocalypse and did a roundhouse, but Apocalypse jumped out of the way so Ichigō could catch her foot. He then flipped her into the air, leaving her open to Batman’s knife-hand jab to the gut. Gandalf held her in the air with his magic while Wyldstyle made a giant fist out of the rock and slammed it onto Heather. Death then grabbed her legs and tossed her to War, who kicked her over to me. I drove my knee into her spine. While she was trying to pull herself together, Famine bit her arm, leaving a gaping wound for Pestilence to fire a gas at her. She briefly broke out in spots, but they vanished on account of the fact she was already dead. Touché then grabbed her hair.

“For everything you ever did to me and for those people you’ve killed!” she declared. She grabbed her nemesis by the throat and tossed her into the cave wall. “It’s over, Heather,” commented Touché. “You’ve lost. Your small-minded obsession towards purity is weighing you down.”

“IT IS NOT SMALL-MINDED!” roared Heather as she held up her knock-off Apocalypse Driver. “PURITY IS WHAT KEEPS US GOING! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT?!”

“Heather, don’t do it!” warned Apocalypse.

“SHUT UP!” bellowed Heather. “I’m coming back and no one’s gonna stop me!” She then put the Driver on…and felt the consequences. She was zapped multiple times and convulsed in pain while a bright light filled the area. It expanded to cover us all and blind us. When we regained our vision, well, I can’t speak for everyone’s belief in their sight, but I CAN speak for my own, because I couldn’t believe it! There, wearing a photo-negative version of the Apocalypse Driver, was an equally photo-negative version of Lacey! Heather picked herself up and examined herself. She was still transparent. “No!” she yelled. “No, this is all wrong! IT’S SUPPOSED TO BRING ME BACK! I’M SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING BODY!”

“You have an annoying talent for whining,” replied a voice. It sounded like Apocalypse’s voice, but with a slight echo.

“How are you doing that?” I asked as we cancelled our transformations.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Lacey.

“…You,” I replied, confused. “You made your voice go all echoey.”

“No,” contradicted Lacey. “I didn’t say anything. And I can’t make my voice have an echo.”

“Well, it WAS your voice,” replied Richard.

“No, it was mine,” corrected the voice again. At that moment, we all turned to Lacey’s Negative Clone.

“…Did YOU speak?” I asked.

“I should hope I did,” remarked the clone. “I have been dormant for eons since the dawn of eternity. I exist as a voice for the Void.”

“The Void?” whispered Death. “Oh, this is brilliant!”

“The Void,” wheezed Pestilence, “is the counter to the multiverse. While everything exists here, nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, exists in the Void.”

“I have been born,” continued the Lacey Clone, “as a guardian of the Void. Specifically, I guard the multiverse against the Void. There must be a balance between everything and nothing. Even if Vortech were to succeed in his plans, the Void would remain.”

“That’s why there should be only ONE Apocalypse Driver!” hissed Death as she turned to Heather. “I warned you about what would happen if you went through with this! You ignored me and easily half the multiverse! Even Caan could see what your machinations could have wrought, and he’s a Dalek!”

“I will NOT be condemned to never having offspring!” shouted Heather. “If the multiverse won’t let me have children, I will happily burn it!”

“That CAN’T happen!” insisted the Lacey Clone. “The power would be uncontrollable! You’d be erased along with the multiverse before you had a chance to breed!”

“You’d destroy the multiverse just to make all life like you?” asked Emily. “You sound like a Dalek.”

“Being barren is unbearable!” protested Heather. “Being DEAD is unbearable!”

“Heather Richards, your unholy crusade nearly destroyed everything!” declared the Lacey Clone. She snapped her fingers and a fiery hole opened up beneath Heather. She grabbed the edge before she fell. “All of Hell wants a word with you!” hissed the Lacey Clone.

“NO! YOU CAN’T SEND ME DOWN THERE!” screamed Heather as she tried to pull herself up. The Lacey Clone stepped on her hands.

“The decision was already made by both Man and God,” she insisted. She then kicked Heather down to Hell.

“I HATE YOU!” roared Heather as her screams mingled with those of the Damned. The Lacey Clone shut the hole and there was silence.

“That was…utterly terrifying!” mumbled Hongo.

“That’s the point of monsters like her,” replied the Lacey Clone. “In any case, it’s good to see you all, finally.”

“…Finally?” asked Lacey.

“The Void has had a consciousness of its own,” explained the Lacey Clone. “It’s been waiting to explore the multiverse without causing imbalance. Heather’s attempt to come back to life was the chance it needed. So, I have a belt that gives me a suit just like you guys do. I guess you could call me Kamen Rider Void.”

“What about your civilian name?” I asked. “I don’t know about the rest of us, but in my head, I’ve called you Lacey Clone. Do you have a different name?”

“…You know, I think I just thought of one,” replied the Lacey Clone. “Call me Sandra, Sandra Noman.”

“Noman?” asked Lacey. “That means ‘not a person’. Are you sure you want that?”

“I’m of the Void,” replied the newly christened Sandra. “I think it’s appropriate.”

“Well, all right,” I sighed. “In any case, can we count on you in the final fight against Vortech?”

“I must disappoint you,” answered Sandra. “My powers are too out of control and getting a handle on them will take time, long after the final fight against Vortech. I must apologize.”

“Will you at least consider joining After Academy?” whispered Death.

“It sounds like an excellent school,” mused Sandra. “I might join it. I’m on the fence about it, though.”

“If you DO want to,” wheezed Pestilence, “you need merely ask us.”

“And no hurry in choosing a house,” assured Lacey.

“Thank you, all of you,” replied Sandra. “Until next time.” Black mist then surrounded her until she and the mist vanished.

“That…was intense!” I breathed. “There IS one more thing I need to do.”

“What’s that?” asked Lacey.

“Lacey and Horsemen,” I called, “how would you like to be members of the Feudal Nerd Society?”

“We haven’t had new members in a LONG time!” cheered Emily.

“It’s only been a year since Sheela joined us,” I replied. “It’s all your choice.”

“I’d be a fool NOT to join!” declared Lacey.

“I suppose it won’t hurt,” whispered Death.

“Eh, why not?” grunted War.

“This could be fun,” wheezed Pestilence. “Count me in!”

“I want in on this!” mumbled Famine as she finished her protein bar.

“What about you guys?” I asked, turning to Batman, Hongo, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf.

“I must respectfully decline,” replied Gandalf. “But, thank you.”

“Sorry, I have to say no as well,” remarked Batman.

“Yeah, sorry,” muttered Wyldstyle. “When this is over, I’m gonna be busy with the Master Builder Academy.”

“And I must say no as well,” answered Hongo. “I do apologize if I have disappointed you.”

“Like I said,” I assured them, “it’s all your choice. I understand.”

“But, if you want to reconsider,” offered Emily, “just come find us.”

“Thank you,” replied Batman.

“Now, kneel, Lacey and Horsemen,” I instructed. I’m probably one of few people the Horsemen ever kneeled to. I drew my blade and tapped their shoulders as if I were knighting them. “And rise, Dame Lacey Thanatos, Duchess Death, Dame War, Lady Pestilence, and Lady Famine!” They rose as new members of the Feudal Nerd Society!

“Now comes the real question,” declared Lacey, “who do I see for a dress?”

“My mother can help in that regard,” I answered.

“She’s made the costumes for the entire F.N.S,” explained Emily. “She’s always open to ideas.”

“I’ll ask her for help when we get back,” declared Lacey.

“Speaking of,” I remarked. I then called up Vorton. “X-PO, mission accomplished. Heather is no more and the knock-off Apocalypse Driver DIDN’T destroy the multiverse. Boy, have we got a story to tell you all!”

“One rift home coming up!” cheered X-PO. “And we’ve found the next Foundation Element!”

“We’ll remain here,” whispered Death. “But, we’ll join you in the final battle! Good luck!”

“Thank you!” I called as we jumped through.


	67. Chapter 67

That nonsense with Heather made me sleep in this morning! Everyone could breathe easier now that Heather’s in Hell. We all had a late breakfast before assembling in the Gateway room. The Rider chance was fired up. “And the winners are…!” called X-PO as the hands slowed down to, “Tonje,” Tonje smiled, “and Mikhail!”

“Khorosho!” cheered Mikhail.

“Coordinates set,” reported Rusty.

“CHARGE!” I shouted.

* * *

We landed near the exit of a carnival at a road leading up to a spooky mansion on a hill. “Well,” mused Hongo, “Wataru might enjoy this.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Kurenai Wataru,” explained Hongo. “A Kamen Rider with a Vampire motif, Kamen Rider Kiva.”

“Great, a Kamen Rider out for blood,” muttered Mikhail.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about him,” assured Hongo. “He’s not a Vampire, per se.”

“Wait!” hissed Batman as we stopped at the rocks at the bottom of the hill. “I hear something.” We poked our heads around the rock and saw something that made Tonje, Mikhail, and I light up with glee! It was a 1960’s panel van with some custom details to the body with a blue and green paintjob with orange flowers and the words “The Mystery Machine” painted in orange. The owner, a blond young man in a blue shirt with a white sweater over it, blue pants, and an orange ascot, was leading his friends up to the mansion. The rest of the gang consisted of a red-headed woman in a purple shirt, headband, dress, and shoes with pink stockings and a green scarf, a brunette woman in thick, squared-rimmed glasses, a baggy orange turtle-neck sweater, and a red, pleated miniskirt, a lanky, long-necked man in a green V-neck shirt, brown bell-bottoms, and a scraggly beard, and a brown Great Dane with black spots and a collar with the license reading “SD”!

“It’s them!” I whispered.

“Mystery Incorporated!” chuckled Mikhail. “I’ve always had a crush on Velma!”

“Eh, I prefer Daphne,” replied Tonje.

“Who are they?” asked Wyldstyle.

“The blonde’s Fred, the red-head’s Daphne, the glasses-wearer is Velma, the scraggly guy is Shaggy, and the dog’s Scooby-Doo!” answered Mikhail.

“They’re paranormal investigators,” I explained.

“Those kids?” asked Batman.

“Those kids,” I said hotly, “have solved as many crimes as you!” Batman scratched his head.

“I swear those kids look familiar,” he muttered. “Must have been some look-a-likes in Gotham.”

“Well, gang,” announced Fred as they arrived at the mansion’s door, “this is my uncle Arthur’s house.” He pulled on a rope and it rang a creepy bell, making Scooby jump into Shaggy’s arms.

“Arthur Jones, the famous explorer,” recalled Velma. “Do you really believe he’s seen a mummy?”

“He’s certainly thinks he has,” replied Fred. “He said it’s after the Diamond Scarab he found in Egypt.”

“Then, it could be here,” guessed Daphne.

“Come on, you don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Velma.

“It’s worth splitting up to find clues for,” remarked Fred. Here it comes. “Hey, guys,” he called to Shaggy and Scooby, “can you check out the old fun-fair? That’s one of the places the mummy’s been seen.”

“Fun-fair?” gulped Shaggy.

“Ghost Train!” wailed Scooby. I swear he added extra r’s in there.

“Say, Velma,” mused Fred, “do you think that fun-fair has a cotton candy machine?” That changed their tune quick.

“Cotton Candy?!” cheered Scooby. He jumped out of Shaggy’s arms. “Let’s go!”

“Right behind you, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal!” called Shaggy as they took off to the Mystery Machine and drove past us while the rest of the gang.

“Come on,” directed Batman. “That Diamond Scarab sounds like our Foundation Element.”

“What do you suppose his mother wants the Scarab for?” asked Gandalf. “Perhaps as jewelry?”

“What?” asked Batman.

“Different type of mummy, Gandalf,” elaborated Wyldstyle. We approached the door, but it shut on us.

“Oh, it appears to have locked behind those good people,” mused Gandalf as he tried it again.

“Chroma locked, it looks like,” observed Wyldstyle. “Haven’t tried it out in a while. Let’s find the Chroma Discs!” We first checked the shed and saw that inside was tangled in vines.

“I think I’m going to need some help with this one,” muttered Batman.

“I got this,” called Mikhail. “Henshin.” He changed into Gallop and changed steels.

“Batman Steel!” announced his belt. They fired their grapple guns and yanked hard, letting a garden hose assembly come out. We attached it to the side of the house and the fountain came on. It spat out a large bag. We looked in to see studs. 745,000 studs, to be exact. Our total is now 4,146,000.

“Bingo,” Batman said in a snarky tone, “just what we needed.”

“Okay, that’s it,” I hissed. “I’m using my Keystone. Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found it by a garden full of weeds. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Locate help from W-1-Z-4-R-D-0-F-0-Z!”

“That place again?!” asked Batman. A Munchkin came out of the rift and watered the weeds, making them turn into a variety of colorful flowers. The plants spat out a red Chroma Disc. All of a sudden, Wyldstyle’s gauntlet started buzzing.

“Already?” muttered Wyldstyle. “Where are the other…well, there’s blue on the porch roof.”

“I see yellow in the green house,” replied Tonje.

“And I know how to get you guys there,” called Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Magenta, by the garden! Yellow, in the green house! Cyan, on the roof! Shift! Megumi! Cyan!”

“Not again!” I yelped as I was dumped onto the roof.

“Shift! Tonje! Yellow!” directed Batman. Tonje was sucked into the green house as Gallop cancelled his transformation.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The Lock Design had a blue circle, a yellow left L-shape, and a red right L-shape. “Chroma! Red! Batman! Chroma! Blue! Megumi! Chroma! Yellow! Tonje!” We went into the paint before Batman got us together and we took our respective places. The door opened and someone fell from the roof! We headed over to see if he was okay. He was a Japanese man with a black and gold bat-like gadget flying around.

“Hey, are you all right?!” I asked. The man got himself up.

“Where am I?” asked the man.

“You’re in another dimension, Wataru,” explained Hongo.

“That’s Wataru?” I asked.

“And I’m Kivat-bat the Third!” introduced the bat-gadget.

“Hongo?!” called Wataru. “Am I glad to see you! Er, who are those people behind you?”

“I’m Batman,” began Batman.

“Gandalf the Grey,” introduced Gandalf

“I’m Wyldstyle,” replied Wyldstyle

“I’m Lord Mikhail Kuznetsov,” bowed Mikhail

“Lady Tonje Haugen,” introduced Tonje.

“And I’m Queen Megumi Hishikawa of the Feudal Nerd Society,” I finished as I curtsied.

“Right now,” revealed Batman, “we need to get in and get that Scarab.”

“I’ve overheard what the Scarab is to these kids,” replied Wataru. “Mind if I come with you?”

“As long as you keep your fangs away from my neck, sure,” I hissed.

“I’m a Fangire/human hybrid, not a full Vampire,” assured Wataru. “And a Fangire doesn’t need fangs to drain you of life energy.”

“That makes me so much better,” I snarked as we stepped inside. When we came in, we saw Fred, Velma, and Daphne heading towards a door on the upper level. Not a good idea to have Danger-prone Daphne bringing up the rear. She was going slower than her friends and was taken by a spinning wall. Velma and Fred didn’t know as they went through the door. When they shut it, a portcullis barred the door.

“Did…she just get caught behind a rotating wall?” asked Batman.

“What’s with this place?” asked Kivat-bat the Third.

“We’re definitely in the older _Scooby-Doo_ episodes,” I mused. “Search the place.” We started thumping on the walls when Gandalf felt a candle on the wall move. He figured it would lead to something useful and pulled it, letting the portrait of Arthur Jones move up, but all that was there was a box of Scooby Snacks. Gandalf became curious and opened the box, taking a taste of one. It was safe to say he wasn’t a big fan of them. He tossed the box out the window as well as the rest of the snack he tasted.

“I don’t get it!” snapped Wyldstyle. “I looked everywhere!” She leaned against a bookcase and it fell apart! “Oops!” she gulped. Then, she got that look. “Actually, maybe not so much an oops!” she cheered as she managed to build an electric coil.

“How did you do that?!” asked Wataru.

“Best not to question it,” advised Hongo.

“Gandalf, if you please,” I directed.

“Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of lightning, Megumi!” announced Gandalf. I felt the familiar buzz as I gained electric powers. I fired lightning at the coil, startling Wataru and Kivat-bat the Third.

“Are you sure you’re not a Fangire?!” yelped Wataru. “Kivat, is she a Fangire?”

“I don’t know!” replied Kivat-bat the…Kivat.

“It’s just technology beyond our understanding,” I assured. We heard gears moving and headed to the upper level to see the portcullis going up and the door opening.

“Let’s see what’s in the next room,” directed Batman. We headed into the room and saw knight armor and taxidermized animals. An open door allowed the lightning outside to show a spooky figure. “Whoa, who’s shadow was that?!” asked Batman. Further down the room, Velma went into another room while Fred pulled on a book. That triggered a trap-door beneath him to open. “I’m experiencing some déjà vu!” muttered Batman.

“Maybe you DID meet Mystery Inc.,” I mused. Another portcullis then blocked us from Velma.

“I think I can solve that,” called Wyldstyle as she pulled on a chain from the ceiling. It raised an owl’s cage to reveal a button. I pressed it and the portcullis raised again, allowing us passage. In the next room, Velma realized she was alone and became nervous. She didn’t see where she was going and tripped over something, making her glasses fly off her face.

“My glasses!” she cried as she felt around. “I can’t see a thing without my glasses!” She stumbled towards an open sarcophagus and blundered inside. It shut itself on her and a hook from the ceiling grabbed it, pulling the sarcophagus and its passenger up. The room had a distinct Egyptian theme.

“How many themes are in this house?!” asked Batman.

“Wait, I think we may be in the right room!” I called. “The Diamond Scarab was found in Egypt, right?”

“Good thinking,” praised Batman. “The Egyptian room would make sense. Let’s start searching!” We examined everything, although the Jackal sarcophagi took some time. Batman had a gadget for situations like that but needed our help. Mikhail, Tonje, and I changed into our Rider suits and activated Batman Steel. We used our grapple guns to yank the Jackals off and reveal pressure plates. Swing and I stepped on them and Velma’s sarcophagus came down, sans Velma. It split when it landed and revealed a large hammer, larger than any of us could lift.

“I may require assistance,” muttered Gandalf.

“I got this,” called Gallop as he exchanged i.d. tags.

“Gandalf Steel!” announced his belt. He and Gandalf then used their magic to lift the hammer and break the sarcophagus to reveal…nothing.

“I’ll get help,” I sighed. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found it near one of the Jackals. “Identify source of rift!” The information was beamed into my head. “Locate help from D-C-C-0-M-1-C-5!” The rift opened to reveal…!

“SUPERMAN!” swooned Wyldstyle. It was, indeed, Superman! He flew into the room and flashed a grin.

“Couldn’t you at least get Cyborg?!” asked Batman.

“As I’ve said numerous times on this adventure,” I hissed, “I can’t choose what I get from this thing!”

“Batman!” snarled Superman. “Let’s settle this rivalry once and for all!” Uh oh! They were gonna…! “Coffee or tea?!” We all lost our balance momentarily, fell down…”anime-style” I believe it’s called.

“Er, Superman,” I interjected, “we have a bigger problem than that. We’re trying to find something called the Diamond Scarab and we think it’s in this room.”

“You need my help?” asked Superman. “Never fear, the Man of Steel is here!” He then used his x-ray vision to scan the entire room. “Aha! There it is, behind that wall!”

“The one with the painting of an Egyptian Pharaoh?” I asked.

“The same!” confirmed Superman.

“I guess, if all Riders kicked it…” I mused as I felt around the wall.

“I have a more expedient solution,” declared Superman.

“Okay, what’s that?” I asked, my back still to him.

“For a start, you’d best get behind me,” advised Superman.

“Why would I…?” I asked as I turned around to see Superman winding up for a punch! I took his advice and quickly got behind him. He punched the wall and it turned into dust. There, at the other end of the room, on a red, velvet cushion, was a scarab beetle made of diamond! “Thank you, Superman!” I cheered.

“Happy to help!” replied Superman.

“Superman, before you go,” stopped Batman, “do you have any information on a guy called Lord Vortech?”

“Vortech?” muttered Superman. “He’s just a myth on Krypton, something to frighten children into behaving.”

“Our experience with him would like to disagree,” I argued.

“Uh oh,” gulped Superman as realization dawned on him. “This is a League matter, then?”

“The final battle will be,” replied Batman. “We’re gathering objects like the Scarab to keep them out of Vortech’s hands as well as pinpoint his stronghold’s location as there are hostages in there, Robin included. You should probably tell the Titans as well.”

“Got it,” replied Superman. “Farewell, everyone.”

“Bye, Superman,” I bid. “Dismiss help!” Superman then flew through the rift for him as we headed to the Scarab.

“I hope I’m not tempting fate by saying this is easy,” muttered Wataru. He did! A mummy grabbed the Scarab.

“At long last!” wheezed the mummy. “The Diamond Scarab! Behold!” The floor then gave way beneath us!

“WATARU, I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” I shouted as we fell.


	68. Chapter 68

We landed roughly on each other. Hongo was trying to NOT concentrate on his back pain. “Wataru, as soon as I disentangle myself from the rest of us,” I warned, “you better be the fastest Kamen Rider. Because if I catch up, may the multiverse have mercy on your soul for jinxing it!”

“Accursed mummy!” hissed Batman as he got Wyldstyle and Mikhail off of him. “Now he’s gonna get it!”

“Check it out!” called Tonje. “Mine carts!” There was a pair of mine carts sitting on their own respective rails. The doors to the mine were closed.

“We need them open,” I mused as I pointed to the doors. Wataru then tried to open them by force.

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re doubting yourself again!” snapped Kivat.

“No, I just need help opening the door!” Wataru managed to get out.

“Wataru, you’re going about it the wrong way,” called Hongo.

“Pardon?” asked Wataru.

“That vent over there,” explained Hongo as he pointed to what he was talking about, “has electronics that can open the doors. We just need to patch it up and shrink someone down to work with the electronics.”

“I’m the one good with rewiring things,” supplied Batman. “You just need to patch things up.”

“Bad news,” called Wyldstyle. While we were talking, she had gotten to a high shelf with a vent patch. “There’s only one patch.”

“Then whoever’s the giant,” suggested Batman, “needs to transfer the patch as I go.”

“What about that hanging bit?” asked Wataru.

“That will be sorted,” assured Hongo. “For now, Scale Keystone, activate! Lessen scale of Batman and Wataru! Enlarge scale of Wyldstyle!” Batman and Wataru shrunk while Wyldstyle grew. She grabbed the patch, ready to help Batman as needed.

“What happened?!” shrieked Wataru. “Why am I small?!”

“We need you under the dangling part of the vent,” directed Batman. Wataru then guessed.

“I’m just going to hold it up?” he asked as he went under the dangling part.

“Exactly,” confirmed Hongo. “Enlarge scale of Wataru!” Wataru grew and held the part in place while Wyldstyle transferred her patch when Batman needed it changed. After a while, everything was rewired and the doors unlocked.

“Well,” sighed Wyldstyle as Hongo got everyone back to their normal sizes, “I guess these carts are the only way out.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time,” declared Wataru. “Kivat, let’s go.” He held his hand to the air.

“All right!” cheered Kivat. “Let’s go!” He flew into Wataru’s hand and folded his wings. Wataru pressed a button in between the bat’s ears and the mouth opened. “Gabu!” (Bite!) called Kivat. Wataru then put Kivat’s fangs onto his hand, making stained glass patterns appear on his body while chains wrapped around his waist, forming a red belt with a hook in front and three whistle-like devices on each side. Wataru then showed Kivat in front of him.

“Henshin!” he announced. He then attached Kivat to the hook by his feet and let him swing down, making a deep bell sound. Quicksilver then formed around his body before bulking up and coloring itself. The suit was predominantly black with silver shoulder guards and a leg guard wrapped in chains. He had a red chest and red trim around his yellow, bat wing eyes.

“So, that’s Kiva,” I mused.

“Transforming may be a good idea,” suggested Hongo as he struck his pose. We followed suit by drawing our i.d. tags. “Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we announced. We all transformed and then boarded the mine carts. We went down, down, down towards another area.

“The Scarab,” boasted a voice, “and its powers are MINE to control!”

“The mummy!” snarled Batman. “Quick! After him!”

“Looks like a dangerous game of bumper cars,” I mused. We kept bumping him, making him lose his grip on the explosives he was trying to light. He tried changing tracks frequently, but it was no good, he changed them too late. Finally, we went on a track that took us out of the mine and made us fly through the air onto a roller-coaster track. We went around the track a couple of times, but the ride we had made Kiva look a little sick, even under his helmet.

“Wataru, don’t you dare throw up!” warned Kivat.

“I’m trying!” mumbled Kiva. The mummy’s cart then left the track and crashed through a circus tent.

“This way!” called Batman. We all left the cart and went into the mummy’s tent. Kiva and I bounced on the trampoline all the way up to a trapeze swing. I grabbed onto the bar and Kiva grabbed my legs. We swung on it a few times before letting go and landing on the ground. Kiva and I felt something coming up our throats that was NOT going to be held back, so we dismissed our helmets and…I don’t need to paint you the picture.

“What took you so long?” asked Batman.

“Now I remember why I HATE roller-coasters!” I mumbled as our helmets came back.

“I don’t want to ride any more rides,” moaned Kiva. “I have an allergy to thrill rides.”

“You and me both,” I said as I patted Kiva’s shoulder. That was when creepy laughter rang through the tent and the mummy rose up from a hole.

“You were fools to think that mere mortals can stop me!” he boasted. “Witness the true power and might of the Diamond Scarab!”

“Fools?” I hissed. “I am no fool. I am a hero! Dai Super Charge!” My armor bulked up, then flew off to reveal… “Kamen Rider Vortex! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“Kamen Rider Kiva! I will break the chains of fate!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“No, you’re dead!” declared the mummy. He used the Scarab to raise more mummies! “Rise, my warriors! Defend my honor!” ordered the mummy. Kiva punched one and it fell apart.

“They’re pretty weak!” called Kiva. “It’s the numbers that concern me.”

“Just keep at it!” I directed. I managed to touch Kiva and got his i.d. tag. “All right, let’s see what you’ve got!” I inserted the i.d. tag and selected Kiva’s normal appearance.

“Kiva Steel!” announced Vortoranii. The wardrobe change my appearance to that of Kiva’s and I started striking more mummies with my sword. Somehow, I wasn’t getting the usual power.

“What gives?!” I snapped.

“You need to use the Garuru Saber form!” explained Kiva. “Watch!” He pulled out a whistle from his right side with blue highlights and put it into Kivat’s mouth.

“Garuru Saber!” shouted Kivat as he blew into it. A high-pitched whistle rang out and some device came flying towards Kiva. It unfolded into a sword with a snarling wolf’s head on the hilt. Kiva grabbed it with his left hand and chains wrapped around his arm and shoulder before snapping to reveal a newer spiky shoulder pad and a blue arm. Chains wrapped around his chest before snapping and revealing a new blue chest. Kivat’s eyes flashed between red and blue before settling on blue. Kiva’s eyes went blue as well before he adopted an animalistic stance.

“Garuru Saber,” I repeated. “Got it!” I summoned the selection circle and changed forms again.

“Kiva Garuru Saber Steel!” announced Vortoranii as the wardrobe closed on me. The whistle that was part of changing into that form sounded and my arm and eyes changed color. After we took care of the other mummies, the main one summoned a giant mechanical scarab!

“RUN!” I shouted as we got out of the way.

“I’ve got an idea!” called Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, on the platform above the target board! Magenta, on the flaming platform! Yellow, on the icy platform! Shift! Kiva! Cyan!” Kiva was sucked into the portal and ended up on the platform. The mummy got his scarab to charge, but it resulted in the scarab knocking itself silly. Kiva then held up another whistle with purple highlights and put it into Kivat’s mouth.

“Dogga Hammer!” announced Kivat as a loud, deep horn blasted. A large purple hammer appeared and unfolded. The head of the hammer looked like a large purple fist and was three times the size of Kiva’s head. He grabbed the shaft with both hands and chains wrapped around them before snapping and revealing purple, gauntleted arms. His chest became purple as did his and Kivat’s eyes. Kiva leapt down and swung the hammer into the mummy’s side. I leapt onto the mummy and got him to tip over so the scarab would be on top.

“Get off me, you silly thing!” snapped the mummy as more mummies came. I saw a seedling.

“Gandalf!” I called as I pointed to the seedling.

“I think I know of two other elements that may help!” answered Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of fire, Vortex! Element of water, Ichigō! Element of earth, Kiva!” Ichigō took care of the fire by the magenta Shift portal while I got rid of the ice near the yellow one. Kiva used his new powers on the seedling to make it grow vines that hit the mummy. He managed to get the scarab on its legs again and it started digging!

“Shift! Vortex! Yellow!” called Batman. I went to the formerly icy platform and the scarab charged at the target board beneath me, knocking itself silly again. Kiva swung the hammer again and knocked the scarab onto the mummy again.

“I command you to move!” ordered the mummy. There was another seedling, so Kiva grew a giant slab of earth from it. It fell and the scarab burrowed again.

“Shift! Ichigō! Magenta!” shouted Batman. Ichigō was on the now charred platform as the scarab came up and charge one last time, only to meet with the same result.

“WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT GETTING OFF OF ME?!” roared the mummy. One last seedling that Kiva grew, one mini volcano that threw a hot rock onto the scarab, effectively destroying it! While he was tossed into the air by the explosion, Kiva, Swing, Ichigō, and I got ready for our kicks. Kiva used a whistle on his right and put it into Kivat’s mouth.

“WAKE UP!” announced Kivat as he flew off his hook. Kiva raised his chained leg into the air as Kivat broke the chains. The armor opened to reveal red demon wings and a green circle on top of the foot. We all then leapt into the air. Kiva didn’t call out his kick, but the rest of us did.

“RIDER KICK!” called Ichigō.

“RIDER SWING KICK!” shouted Swing

“RIDER VORTEX KIVA GARURU KICK!” I announced. The mummy was kicked into the…stuff that Kiva and I…you know. He landed there and lost his grip on the Diamond Scarab. The mummies then lost their new life-forces and fell.

“Goodness,” panted Gandalf. “I have not seen magic like that in some time.”

“Not magic,” countered Gallop as he took the head off one of the mummies.

“I knew it!” hissed Batman. “They were robotic exhibits from a carnival! Because this mummy isn’t a mummy at all. It’s…” mask pulling-off time! “…the Fun fair owner!”

“Er, I don’t know of any fun fair owners made of solid space!” argued Swing. We all looked to see the head! That wasn’t a human head! The head belonged to…

“Vortech!” yelped Batman as Lord Vortech tore his mummy disguise off and got his usual clothes back on.

“And I would have gotten away with it,” hissed Vortech, “if it hadn’t have been for you meddling kids!”

“Decided to do your own dirty work?” I asked.

“Dirty work,” answered Vortech, “would have been a fine description if you didn’t kick me into your bile!”

“You’re not getting the Scarab back!” I declared.

“Try and stop me!” snapped Vortech as he charged at me. I managed to roll out of the way and Batman decked him, knocking a bag of studs from him. “THIEVES! THAT’S MINE!” roared Vortech. At that moment, a portal opened behind us as X-PO’s voice came through.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he called, “but you guys have the final Foundation Element. Head back to Vorton, but only if you, you know, want to save the entire multiverse.” At that point, Vortech seemed to get an idea, then stopped trying to get the Scarab from us.

“Yes, trot along,” he dismissed. “Take your trinket. I don’t need it; I have your friends.”

“Let’s go!” called Wyldstyle. I wasn’t one to argue, but Vortech’s change of heart scared me. Still, we took our leave of Scooby Doo’s world with Kiva behind us.

* * *

“So, you’re the one helping them, are you, X-PO?” I muttered to myself “A rather big mistake. Now, which dimension did I banish you to?” My musings were interrupted by voices. I hid behind one of the poles and saw Shaggy and Scooby running into the tent.

“I heard it in here!” called Scooby in his usual ‘r’ laden speech.

“Then, like, why aren’t we running in the opposite direction?!” asked Shaggy before they tripped into a bathtub. When they recovered, they saw the remains of my disguise. “Like, dude,” yelped Shaggy, “that is so freaky-deaky!” Their friends then came running up to them.

“You guys already solved the case?!” asked Fred in disbelief.

“And had the police take away the bad guy?!” quizzed Velma.

“Was it the fun fair owner again?” asked Daphne. Shaggy and Scooby decided to make up a story.

“Yeah, that’s right!” replied Shaggy.

“Yeah!” finished the dog. “Scooby Dooby Doo!” All right, that’s enough of that foolishness. Time to take my leave! I hope Igura had better luck than I.


	69. Chapter 69

“Shut it down! Shut it down!” shouted Batman as we arrived on Vorton. Rusty closed the portal.

“A ‘please’ would be nice,” snarked X-PO. No one dignified that with a response. “Relax, it’s already shut down. What’s the problem?”

“No problem,” panted Wyldstyle as she handed off the Diamond Scarab. “Nothing. No. Unless you count LORD VORTECH BEING THERE?!”

“I certainly would!” declared Gandalf.

“Vortech was there?!” yelped Tanisha as my team and I cancelled our transformations.

“Yeah, I noticed he was around,” muttered X-PO.

“…Pardon?” I hissed as venom tinged my voice.

“What?” asked X-PO. “Look, do you guys really think he wouldn’t try to settle this himself after his minions failed him?”

“You didn’t think to tell us that, why!?” I asked.

“We can dismantle him later,” stopped Elphaba. “Take it from someone who was a bad guy once, getting your hands dirty means a master-plan's in the works.”

“Elphaba’s right,” replied Batman. “Vortech’s up to something. We need to rescue our friends now.”

“Indeed,” concurred Gandalf.

“We can’t exactly do that,” reminded Emily, “until we map out Foundation Prime’s location.

“Well,” replied X-PO, “here’s how you make a map where I’m from. I’ll use the Foundation Elements to calculate the dimensional coordinates of Foundation Prime.”

“How long will that take?” I asked.

“That’s the bad news,” winced X-PO. “It’s gonna be two days.”

“WE DON’T HAVE THAT LONG!” shouted Wyldstyle.

“Actually, we probably have longer,” replied Sheela. We all turned to her. “Think about it, why would Vortech want to let a Foundation Element slip through his fingers? He wants us to feel some victory before he strikes.”

“That,” supplied the Brigadier, “or he’s waiting for us.”

“In either case,” finished Lukas, “he’s going to wait as long as we do.”

“Which means,” I realized, “he wants us to witness his victory. Well, we’re not going to let him win. I want everyone to take the two days needed to prepare for the fight. The Vortex and Apocalypse Riders need to be there to beat him anyways. Once we have the coordinates, I’ll get us there.”

“Not going through the Gateway?” asked X-PO.

“We can’t afford to do so,” I replied. “Vortech may use it to get here and take the Foundation Elements we have. I’ll get us there.”

“This is it, then,” mumbled Okaa-san’s voice. She and Lacey came in. Lacey was in a new dress Mom had made for her. “My baby girl,” said Okaa-san, her voice quivering in sadness and fear.

“Okaa-san, I’ll come back,” I promised. “We’ll ALL come back. I promise on my honor as the reigning monarch of the Feudal Nerd Society, we WILL come back, and we WILL come back victorious!”

“We’re gonna hold you to that,” replied Mr. Archer. “It’s not just your life or your brother’s life at stake, but ALL our children’s’ lives.”

“Trust me, their lives will be handled with great care,” I assured.

“…All right,” said Mr. Archer.

“Well now,” mused Emily, “on to some questions. What dimension did you go to?”

“Scooby Doo’s world,” I replied.

“ _SCOOBY DOO_?!” yelped Emily. “AW MAN! I would have died to go there!”

“And I managed to do a bit of burglary on Vortech’s person,” I continued. I pulled the bag out. “And we’ve got more studs here,” I pulled out the bag from the fountain.

“The amount you stole from Vortech,” counted Vortoranii, “was 100,000. And that bag has 745,000. Now we have 4,246,000.”

“Is that good?” asked Wataru.

“It’s enough to buy your own universe,” replied Vortoranii, “just not enough left over to start an economy with.”

“…Our own universe?” I said, intrigued. “We may need to look into that when this is over.”

“Oh boy, Megumi’s thinking on godhood!” teased Richard.

“Am not!” I protested. “I’m fine with being a queen!”

“I don’t know,” chuckled Lacey, “being a god has its perks.”

“All hail Megumi the Eternal!” teased Lukas.

“Oh shut up!” I laughed.

“Okay, enough,” called Okaa-san. The teasing broke up and Wataru snickered.

“You guys are ridiculous,” he observed.

“That’s part of our charm,” I replied. “Will you be staying with us?”

“I cannot,” answered Wataru. “The Fangires are coming back for some odd reason. But, I will join you in the final battle.”

“Maybe you can gather the other Riders we’ve encountered,” requested Hongo.

“Who are they?” asked Wataru.

“Here,” called Lukas as he handed a pen and paper to Wataru.

“We met Wizard,” I began in the order we met them, “Bravo, Fourze, Den-O, OOO, W, Brave, Kabuto, Amazon, Ghost, Ex-Aid, Para-DX, Poppy, Drive, Gaim, Build over there,” I pointed out Sento as he worked with Rusty on the Gateway, “and now you.”

“Got it!” affirmed Wataru.

“Tell everyone,” instructed Hongo, “to meet at Arakawa Nature Park when the call comes out.”

“Arakawa Nature Park, right,” confirmed Wataru. “Sayonara, minna-san!” The Gateway opened for him and he headed home.

“Right,” I declared. “Let’s get started!”

* * *

I arrived back on Foundation Prime to see Igura leaning against a wall. “I don’t see anything in your hands,” she observed.

“Lost the Diamond Scarab to the Vortex Riders and Kiva,” I replied. “As of right now, I am in urgent need of good news. Tell me you have something of value.”

“Something,” answered Igura, “and someone.” She stepped aside to reveal a man I had hired gather Foundation Elements for me on this adventure!

“Hiro?!” I asked.

“And I bear a gift for you,” answered Hiro as he produced an over-sized key. “The Foundation Element of D-1-5-N-3-Y. And I have something else as well.”

“Do tell,” I invited.

“Look there,” replied Hiro as he pointed to a screen. I did so, a little disappointed at what I saw.

“Dimensional coordinates?” I muttered.

“VORTON’s dimensional coordinates,” Hiro explained. “The main base of operations for our enemies.”

“Vorton?” I asked. “I thought I had left it a lifeless rock in space.”

“Evidently, X-PO had a hand in restoring the life-support systems,” replied Hiro.

“And you didn’t get any of THEIR Foundation Elements?” asked Igura.

“They harassed me for too long,” explained Hiro. “I had little time to make my escape. On top of that, X-PO didn’t remember Foundation Prime’s coordinates.

“Hence why you were in D-1-5-N-3-Y,” realized Igura.

“It matters not,” I assured. “Let’s see, X-PO is most likely using the Foundation Elements they have to calculate Foundation Prime’s coordinates. Let me see, they have Chen’s staff, the cake, the Palantír, the PKE meter, the game token, and the Diamond Scarab. More than enough to find us. It will take two days for him, so we will prepare for them to siege us while YOU, Hiro, will take THEIR Elements once they are inside the base!”

“Understood,” said Hiro, grinning manically.

* * *

“Are you sure?” I asked young Flora.

“Positive, Your Majesty,” replied Flora as she fiddled with her now purple ascot. “Lacey herself told us.”

“With the Vortex Riders mustering,” muttered Brendan, “Tarlax needs to be ready.” I had considered his words.

“Miss Kendall,” I asked Amelia, “how goes the new project you and Sludgiona are working on?”

“Not well,” sighed Amelia. “They’re too unstable. If we gave them to the Vortex Riders now, they would explode at the first opportunity.”

“I am NOT giving them bombs to put on their waists!” I snarled. “We’ll have to proceed without the project. Miss Moore, tell the Horsemen we’re training for the final fight. Miss Elmira, put my warriors through some drills.”

“Got it!” called Sophie as she headed back to After Academy in a swish of blue petticoats.

“On my way,” answered Charline as she headed to the camp. We may be monstrous, but the Tarlaxians will not let the multiverse fall! I, Queen Empress Scorpainia, rightful ruler of the children of Tarlax, disciple of the Four Horsemen we Tarlaxians worship, swear this!

* * *

Lacey and Flora had informed me of what’s going on in their respective locations. The Heralds were a bit miffed that they weren’t inducted into the F.N.S but conceded that they hadn’t interacted with Megumi all that much. So, it begins. The final stretch of this war is approaching us. I pray my allies, no, my FRIENDS, can save their loved ones. I smoothed out my dress as I walked towards the selectively-permeable wall leading to my balcony. There was a slight tingle as I passed through it and I was greeted with a clear night. I hoped it was a good omen. This war has proven to be rather long. War was busy training her troops in the courtyard below. I had hoped for a peaceful solution with Vortech, hoping he’d never find Foundation Prime, but it was a vain hope. Even I, Death herself, can make mistakes on an incalculable magnitude.


	70. Chapter 70

Two days. That was all it took to get Foundation Prime’s coordinates. I was given the coordinates and put them into my belt. All Vortex Riders assembled in the Gateway Room. Xiomara got off her phone. “I just got a call from Death,” she reported. “All Apocalypse and Herald Riders are meeting us there; they just need the coordinates.”

“I’ll text them to her,” declared Lacey as she whipped out her phone. She sent a text, then waited a bit for Death’s confirmation. She didn’t wait long. “They got it,” reported Lacey.

“Now, it’s all you,” directed Richard. I took a breath, then drew my i.d tag.

“Henshin,” I announced. “Dai Super Charge.” I became Kamen Rider Vortex and concentrated on the destination. A rift opened for us and we went through it to Foundation Prime!

* * *

Where we landed in Foundation Prime was NOT Vortech’s base. It was a small island accommodating us all, even Death and the rest of the Apocalypse and Herald Riders. It was good to see Lacey’s old classmates. I cancelled my transformation as we looked around. Wyldstyle saw some sort of temple citadel. “Uh, shouldn’t we be over there?” she asked.

“Yes,” hissed Batman. “So much for that toaster’s calculations!”

“Finding an exact point in the multiverse,” countered Charline, “is not as easy as it looks. This was probably the best X-PO could give us.”

“It could have been worse,” supplied Gandalf as he held a rock over the edge of the island. “Just a little way off and…” he released the rock, but the result wasn’t what he thought. Ground came out of the undulating waves of white and joined with the island we were on. “…That was unexpected,” muttered Gandalf. Wyldstyle jumped on the new ground to test its integrity.

“It’s solid!” she reported. She picked up another stone. “Hang on a second!” She tossed it over the edge, but no ground rose to meet it. It fell into the waves and vaporized. “Ah, you know,” mused Wyldstyle, “we should probably watch where we step.”

“Not a bad idea,” I replied as I turned into Tora-Onna and raised my foot, inching it towards the edge.

“What are you doing?” asked Hongo.

“Treading softly,” I replied. As my foot neared the edge, a path popped up for us. “This way,” I declared. We continued on the path until large islands appeared with a vent on one, a blank space on the other, and floating steps with three pads making up each step, leading up to the islands. There was a bridge of three cubes at different heights in between the islands. “We’re tackling the vent first,” I directed.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” called Hongo as we approached. “Let’s see, who wants to get the dangling bit?”

“Er, I’ll get it, if it’s not too much trouble,” whispered Flora.

“All right, lessen scale of…what’s your name?” asked Hongo.

“Flora,” replied Flora.

“Lessen scale of Flora!” called Hongo. Flora shrunk, then took her position under the vent. “Enlarge scales of Flora and Death!” announced Hongo.

“So I’m transferring the patch?” whispered Death as she and Flora grew.

“That’s correct,” confirmed Hongo. “Now, who’s going inside the vent and rewiring everything?”

“Allow me,” offered Lukas.

“Lessen scale of Lukas!” called Hongo. Lukas shrunk and started crawling around as Death transferred the patch as needed. Soon, Lukas managed to rewire everything, leading to pressure plates popping up on the cubes.

“My turn,” declared Batman.

“Be our guest,” I replied as Hongo got everyone back to their correct heights.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Cyan, above the center cube! Magenta, above the left cube! Yellow, above the right cube! Shift! War! Yellow! Shift! Pestilence! Magenta! Shift! Famine! Cyan!” The Horsemen that were called out soon went through the portals and they landed on the pressure plates. The cubes lit up and threw their passengers off. The cubes sunk into the white waves and something rose in their place. Xiomara, Hongo, and Emmanuel were surprised.

“GOZER?!” yelped Hongo. It was the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man!

“How did HE get out?!” asked Emmanuel.

“Get ready!” warned Xiomara as the three got into their henshin poses.

“Hold on!” I halted. I picked up a stone and threw it at Gozer, or rather, the statue of Gozer. The stone bounced off and “Gozer” didn’t even flinch.

“Oh, it’s NOT Gozer,” sighed Richard in relief.

“Yeah, but it IS farther and higher from us!” hissed Emily.

“I see some moving platforms!” called Sophie. There were three of them, and one was flaming, one was icy, and one was electrified.

“I think I see a control panel for them!” reported Brendan.

“I’ll take care of it!” insisted Charline. “I’ll just need to get on the fire platform. No biggy.”

“What is your name?” asked Gandalf.

“Charline,” replied Charline.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Charline!” A red aura surrounded Charline and she safely stepped onto the flaming platform. She made it to the other side and fiddled with the controls, allowing the platforms to go normal. We took turns getting to where Charline was. The rest of Flora’s classmates introduced themselves to Gandalf as we waited. When we all joined together, more platforms came up. I stepped on one and it turned red before falling back into the white sea. I hopped onto another one and it flashed green as it stayed.

“Okay, falling platform time,” I gulped. I used my feet like radar, checking which ones were bad so we could cross safely. After a few more guesses, we made it to a large island with Lex-bots, mummies, Chen’s goons, and flying monkeys! Oh my! “Well, I DID suspect the enemy would throw resistance our way,” I muttered.

“Then let’s clear it!” declared Hongo as he struck his pose. We drew our i.d. tags, Lacey and the Horsemen fastened their belts, and Flora and her classmates drew out black flip phones and pressed the enter button. “Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all said. Flora and her classmates slid the phones into a special slot on the belt buckle and they slid open. A colored light flashed that matched their petticoats’ colors. They were surrounded by the same light and suits formed, giving them the motif of black armored Roman Centurions. Their eyes matched their petticoats.

“Kamen Rider Herald P!” began Flora.

“Kamen Rider Herald Y!” called Brenden.

“Kamen Rider Herald O!” announced Charline.

“Kamen Rider Herald G!” cheered Amelia.

“Kamen Rider Herald B!” introduced Sophie.

“We bring news of your defeat!” they all finished as we charged. We managed to fight them off and a path appeared for us. It led to a structure with three Vortech faces. Each one lost some parts and the ones on the end had paths that were dominant in either fire or electricity, but some parts of the path swapped to the other and crawled towards us. As we cancelled our transformations, Gandalf took the stage.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Element of fire, Gandalf! Element of lightning, Sophie!” They were surrounded in their respective auras and traveled down the paths with great care. They soon arrived at their faces while Sheela took the one in the middle. When the faces were reassembled, they slid back to reveal parts of a Chroma Lock design. Gandalf had a red circle, Sheela had an orange left L-shape, and Sophie had a purple right L-shape. The paths Gandalf and Sophie took soon went to normal as the Chroma Discs came into play.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma Lock, reveal! Chroma! Red! Sophie! Chroma! Blue! Gandalf! Chroma! Yellow! Sheela!” They went into their respective paint blobs and joined us to make the Chroma design. Gandalf went into the right L-shape while Sheela went to the left one. Sophie first went into the circle, then joined Gandalf, then joined Sheela. Stairs appeared for us to get to the top of the structure to show three more cubes with pressure plates on top. They did something unusual. First, the right cube flashed, then the left, then the center.

“It’s a pattern,” observed Batman. “I got this. Shift Keystone, activate! Yellow, above the right cube! Magenta, above the left cube! Cyan, above the middle cube! Shift! Amelia! Yellow!” Amelia landed on the right pressure plate. “Shift! Amelia! Magenta!” Amelia landed on the left one. “Shift! Amelia! Cyan!” Amelia landed on the last one, then was tossed back to us as the cubes moved aside to make a path for us. Then, the DeLorean flew in and landed!

“This isn’t Hill Valley!” called the driver, Marty. More road then appeared for him. “Well, back to the future for me,” shouted Marty as he engaged the Time Circuits. He then got up to 88 miles an hour and vanished with only flaming tire trails to prove he was there. As we traveled down the path, more trick platforms came up. I led the way, a rather winding way, over to another arena island, this time with Orcs, Cybermen, Lord Business’s robots, and Jackal mummies!

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced. We soon got underway with the fight. The enemy just kept coming and coming and coming! It was ridiculous!

“Come on!” whispered Death. “Fall already!” Soon enough, she got her wish as the enemy forces stopped coming. A path extended for us and another vent with three floating cubes appeared.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” called Ichigō. “Lessen scale of Herald O! Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” The respective targets grew or shrank. Herald O crawled into the vent while Gandalf transferred a patch as needed and lifted hanging pieces. Herald O had thrown Chroma discs out of the vents. A floating version of the Chroma Lock appeared in the air. The circle was red, the left L-shape was purple, and the right L-shape was green. “Normalize scale of Herald O and Gandalf!” announced Ichigō. Everyone returned to normal.

“Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal!” called Wyldstyle. The design appeared. “Chroma! Royal! Red! Chroma! War! Yellow! Chroma! Famine! Blue!”

“I never thought I’d see the day!” laughed Herald O. “My House Head has turned yellow!”

“You’ll be doing 500 laps around the Academy for that joke!” snarled War as all requested Riders stepped into their paint. I stood in the circle, then joined Famine in the left L-shape, then she joined War in the right L-shape. A path was unlocked, leading to the cubes as they rotated. We all arrived at the end of the path and Batman got ready.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Magenta, beneath the left cube! Cyan, beneath the center cube! Yellow, beneath the right cube!” Beneath? Batman explained. “There are gravity generators on the switches. If I time them right, my targets will land on the switches and be fine.” He waited…waited…“Shift! Apocalypse! Yellow!” Apocalypse landed on the generator switch and stayed on it as Batman predicted. He waited some more…“Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” Gandalf went through. Batman waited a little longer…“Shift! Wyldstyle! Magenta!” She landed on her switch and they were all thrown off to allow plants to grow on the cubes. A path popped up beneath the cubes as a dragon made of fiery sparkles, like it came out of fireworks, flew towards us.

“Not again!” yelped Gandalf. “And this time, it’s not that fool of a Took and his friend!”

“DUCK!” I warned. As if I needed to! We got out of the way of the dragon as it set the path ahead of us ablaze.

“…My turn, I see,” mused Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of water, Royal!” A blue aura surrounded me as I forged ahead, dousing the flames as I went. When I reached the end, the path just stopped.

“Maybe I can find something,” I muttered. “Locate Keystone, activate!” I said. “Initiate rift detection!” I didn’t get very far as the rift was at the edge. “Already?” I asked. “All right. Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Locate help from W-1-Z-4-R-D-0-F-0-Z!” Two turns from the Yellow Brick Road appeared. We traveled down the path and arrived at an area with a wall going straight up. I then felt something in my head. “Another rift?” I muttered. “Initiate rift detection!” I then found it. “Identify source of rift!” I said. The info beamed into my head. “Oh no,” I mumbled. “HER place! Locate help from P-0-R-T-4-L!” Platforms from that world appeared, allowing us to scale the wall. We then arrived at platforms that vanished if you stepped on the wrong one again. My turn. I led the way, and a path appeared when we scaled it, leading all the way to the citadel. “A straight shot from here!” I assured everyone. I then bumped into a guy. He was Japanese and had a pink camera hanging from a strap around his neck. “Gomen!” (short sorry) I apologized. The guy didn’t respond, he just looked at me.

“Tsukasa Kadoya!” breathed Sengoku.

“Someone I should know?” I asked.

“He’s better known as Kamen Rider Decade,” explained Sengoku. “He can turn into his nine previous predecessors.”

“Actually, I turn into all of the Heisei Riders now,” said Tsukasa as he pulled out a belt. The center of it was pink and had symbols around a circular window in the center. It had the word “Decade” in all caps on top.

“Hold on, I thought the Decadriver was white!” protested Sengoku.

“It’s been upgraded,” replied Tsukasa.

“If you can turn into past and present heroes,” I praised, “you must be well renowned.” Tsukasa said nothing. “I am Megumi Hishikawa, Queen of the Feudal Nerd Society and Kamen Rider Royal/Vortex.” Still nothing. “…I seek any available help to defeat Vortech!” I said loudly. Nothing again. “You are clearly a hero! Will you join us in our fight?!” Nothing once more. “…You make me sad. So be it. Let’s go.”

“Stay where you are!” demanded Tsukasa.

“Pardon me?” I asked.

“No one passes me!” declared Tsukasa.

“I have no quarrel with you, fellow Kamen Rider,” I assured, “but we must get to the citadel.”

“Then you will die!” threatened Tsukasa. Will we now?

“I don’t respond well to threats on my life!” I snarled. “Tsukasa Kadoya, I command you to stand aside!”

“I move for no one!” replied. Tsukasa as he took a card out from his coat.

“Kisama!” (Japanese way of calling someone scum or bastard) I growled. “Who do you think you are?!”

“Tōrisugari no Kamen Rider da,” (Just a passing-through Kamen Rider) answered Tsukasa as he revealed the card. It had a magenta helmet on it with green eyes and what looked like black cards going through the head with the middle one having a yellow light. “Oboeteoke!” (Remember that!) He then pulled on the sides of the Decadriver, making the pink part rotate 90⁰ to the left and reveal a slot on top. “Henshin!” announced Tsukasa as he inserted the card.

“Kamen Ride,” called the Decadriver. He then closed it, making the pink part rotate back. “Decade!” announced the Decadriver. Images of Kamen Riders appeared before they joined to Tsukasa, forming a suit. It was magenta and the helmet from the card appeared. Kamen Rider Decade was ready. He dusted his hands before attacking me. We engaged in a punch-block duel for a while until he grabbed the book device on his left hip and unfolded parts of it to make a sword. I summoned my sword and we dueled like that for an hour.

“I can do this all day!” I boasted.

“Somehow, I doubt it,” replied Decade. He then shoved me backwards and opened the Decadriver again, swapping the card for a new one.

“Attack Ride,” called the Decadriver. He closed it again. “Slash!” He slashed downwards, causing sparks to fly off of me. I then punched him, getting his i.d. tag.

“You turn into the other Heisei Riders, correct?” I remarked. “Wait ‘til you get a load of me!” I swapped my i.d. tag for the new one and two images of Decade’s head appeared. One of them had pink eyes and had a card on his forehead. I chose the standard helmet.

“Decade Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“Kamen Ride: Decade!” called the Decadriver’s voice as the wardrobe closed on me and changed my suit armor. I evoked Decade once it opened. I then mimed put a card into an imaginary Decadriver. “Attack Ride: Slash!” I then slashed across Decade’s chest and knocked him backwards.

“You’re right,” I commented. “I AM pressed for time. I have a fight with Vortech, not you. He intends to destroy our worlds to make a new one. If me and my friends don’t stop him, your days as a Kamen Rider are over.” Decade was giving me full eye contact, then started laughing. “What, may I ask, is so funny?” I demanded

“Even when it’s YOUR goals on the line, you still think about others!” laughed Decade. “You win!” I temporarily lost my balance.

“Eh?!” I called.

“I was testing you!” replied Decade as he picked himself up. “I thought a newbie like you would only be concerned about YOUR goals and no one else’s. But, instead, you place your friends at the forefront. You placed ME at the forefront! I’m joining you. Only a hero can defeat Vortech.”

“…You smug, self-righteous b*****d!” I said, angry at him.

“I’ve been called worse,” dismissed Decade. “Come on, he’s this way.” He led us right to the entrance of Lord Vortech’s citadel.


	71. Chapter 71

“Look at all the junk!” breathed Guard as we entered the citadel.

“If I didn’t know why Vortech was collecting it all,” mused Battle, “I’d call him a hoarder.”

“There’s just one problem,” remarked Wyldstyle. “Where’s MetalBeard?!” She then remembered. “Oh, and your friends too, of course.”

“I don’t know,” replied Batman. “It’s empty.” He was right. There was nobody there!

“So were the Mines of Moria when I arrived with the Fellowship,” warned Gandalf. “Be on your guard.” Wise words.

“I always am!” declared Batman.

“Is that…the Keyblade?!” I asked.

“It is!” confirmed Sengoku. “How they separated it from Sora, I’ll never know!”

“That’s not all they stole,” called Ichigō. “Look!” We looked up to see a spaceship above us.

“A _Prometheus_ -class starship!” breathed Touché.

“Look at the name and registry!” called Guard. We got a good look. It was NCC-1701-G. The _U.S.S. Enterprise-H_!

“That name must be a Foundation Element!” I guessed. “How’s Starfleet gonna explain this?!” Someone cleared their throat and we turned to see Lord Vortech sitting on his throne.

“Ah-ah-ah!” he chided. “Those aren’t for you!”

“Vortech, you’re playing with fire!” I warned. “We need to take them back to their respective universes! These ARE for us!”

“No,” replied Vortech as he opened multiple rifts, “THESE are for you!” Vortexons came out of the rifts and charged at us! We defended ourselves.

“What’s the idea with the Vortexons?!” snapped Seeker. We kept them back.

“Why have an army if you have to do everything yourself?” asked Vortech. He summoned a giant gun and fired. “Did you honestly think you could just wander into my palace and steal your friends back?”

“That’s the general idea!” replied Wyldstyle. “Set the prisoners free! You can’t hold them forever!”

“It’s over for you now!” declared Vortech. “Give up, now!”

“Not a chance!” I answered. It was then I realized that Vortech was slowly turning himself into mist! The mist was gathering around us! Thank goodness Arch had a bright idea and swapped i.d. tags. Sento had given us the secrets of his forms while X-PO was making the map. Arch swapped out his i.d. tag for the Build one and selected a form.

“Build HawkGatling Steel!” announced his belt. The Build Driver’s voice then resounded throughout the temple.

“TENKUU NO ABARENBOU!” (The Rampage of the Skies!) it called. “HAWKGATLING! YEAH!” He then fired off multiple rounds from his bow and the mist released us. A fire tornado appeared with Vortech in the center!

“I am one with the elements!” he boasted. “I control them!” He then sent out some fire rings, decreasing the power of the tornado before he was just in a fire shield.

“Gandalf!” I called.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Royal!” I then doused the shield. X-PO chose this moment to call us.

“Hey, guys!” he called. “Soooo, this is gonna be a pain, buuuuuut the rift calculations are taking longer than I thought. Use this to keep Lord Vortech preoccupied.” He then opened a rift to give Decade a Rider Card. It had my image on it.

“Minions, deal with these interlopers!” ordered Vortech. More Vortexons appeared and attacked. When we cleared them, Vortech made himself into mist as he summoned that giant gun again. “You cannot hide!” We were snagged again! Decade had managed to turn his book into another configuration and used another card.

“Attack Ride: Blast!” announced the Decadriver. It fired off multiple shots into the mist. The mist yelped in pain as it became an ice tornado. It sent rings out, decreasing its size until it was just Vortech in an ice shield.

“My turn!” declared Decade.

“Element of fire, Decade!” announced Gandalf. As the red aura surrounded him, Decade held up the new card walked up behind me.

“This may tickle a bit,” he warned.

“Eh?” I asked. He then inserted the new card into the Decadriver.

“Final Form Ride: Royal!” it announced. Decade then mimed opening my backside and aaaaaaaAAAAAARRGRHRGHERGHR! My head folded into my chest! My arms raised above my shoulders, sprouting blades and forming a sword! My legs twisted up at the knees, making the handle and cross-guard! I turned into a sword and was in a lot of pain!

“Talk about Targetmasters!” joked Guard. I was in too much pain to ask. I then heard the Decadriver say something else.

“Final Attack Ride: R-R-R-Royal!” it called. I then felt fire go up my arms and I felt myself being swung downwards! I then unfolded back into my human shape, my pain subsiding. I walked up to Decade and slapped him.

“NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!” I roared. “THAT WAS TOO PAINFUL!” Vortech then tried again.

“I am everywhere!” he boasted as he turned into mist. “I am all powerful!”

“Nope!” called Kämpfer. “Nipping this in the bud!” He fired multiple shots into the mist and it formed Vortech’s fire tornado again. I was still controlling water, so I doused it once the fire rings passed us. We then attacked Vortech, but he knocked us aside with his staff.

“NO! NO! This will not happen! I am Lord Vortech!” shouted Vortech. The rift X-PO created then opened and started sucking Vortech in, but…well, X-PO can explain.

“Ah, the old creating-a-giant-spider-web-to-stop-from-tumbling-into-a-massive-dimensional-rift act!” he mused over the comms. “Megumi, your Keystone! Now, hurry up! The rift won’t be stable for long! Sorry! I’m kind of bad at this! I fell asleep in Dimensional Rift-making Class!”

“I’m sure it will be sufficient, X-PO!” I assured. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found it. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Locate help from D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0!” A Special Weapons Dalek and a standard Dalek in khaki-green, a Union Jack under its eyestalk, and an army utility belt from WWII.

“I am your soldier!” declared the standard Dalek.

“As am I,” reported the Special Weapons Dalek in a deeper Dalek voice.

“No Daleks!” snapped Battle. “I absolutely draw the line!” I wasn’t about to look a gift-horse in the mouth, though.

“Daleks, can you shoot the web Vortech spun himself?” I quizzed

“We can!” assured the Special Weapons Dalek.

“Do it,” I ordered.

“We obey!” called both Daleks. They took aim and fired! Vortech was about to be sucked in! Then…it happened. He closed the rift behind him and landed on the floor in a superhero landing pose!

“I think this has gone on long enough!” he chuckled as he dusted himself off. That was when his minions grabbed us and restrained us, cancelling our transformations. He then opened rifts to reveal Robin, MetalBeard, Frodo, and Ichimonji!

“BATMAN!” shouted Robin.

“Gandalf!” screamed Frodo.

“Wyldstyle!” called MetalBeard.

“Hongo!” yelled Ichimonji.

“Friendship is a weakness,” boasted Vortech. “You should have just destroyed your Foundation Elements.” He then called up someone. “Hiro, how fares the siege?”

“It fares well!” replied Hiro’s voice. “We’ve found the Element vault and have scuttled Vader’s Star Destroyer!” I then became worried and switched my comms on.

“Anyone! Report!” I shouted.

“Guys, it’s X-PO!” replied the person on the other end. “Vorton’s under attack! It’s times like this when I wish I knew how to fight and not make sarcastic comments!” I then heard a struggle and the Joker’s laugh. A new caller came in.

“This is Rusty!” answered the new caller. “We’ve been overrun! The Elements we have are being taken!”

“Correction,” corrected a voice I loathe, “the Elements you’ve HAD have BEEN taken!” Hiro and his forces had appeared out of a rift and set our Foundation Elements beneath the shield in the floor.

“Here you go, Boss!” called the Joker.

“What did you do to X-PO, Joker?!” demanded Batman.

“I put a smile on his face!” replied the Joker. The Foundation Elements then rose on pillars where they were set and orbited the Enterprise. They made an energy cyclone that went straight to the floor and revealed what was beneath a set of sliding panels.

“BEHOLD!” boomed Vortech as the object came up from beneath the forcefield. “THE FOUNDATION OF ALL DIMENSIONS!” I must say, the end goal was NOT what I expected.

“All this,” muttered Batman, “for a green square?!”

“I think I know what that square is!” answered Richard. We turned to him. “We’re just Legos to Vortech, for him to manipulate as he sees fit! That green square is just the starters kit, the place for him to begin making worlds!” Vortech then landed on the square. Energy coursed through him!

“I can feel everything!” he cried. “Control everything!” Just then, the cages opened and the occupants orbited Vortech!

“Hey!” roared Batman. “Give us back our friends!”

“Oh, don’t worry!” replied Vortech. “The last thing I want to do is…” he then spawned a blob of whatever he was made of, “KEEP YOU APART!” He laughed manically as he tossed the blob into the air.

“What is he doing to them?!” wailed Gandalf.

“He’s insane!” called Wyldstyle. Ichimonji, MetalBeard, Robin, and Frodo made contact with the blob as it enveloped them, combining them and other metals and ligaments into a four-headed, winged, sword wielding, cannon-armed, giant monster!

“The next time we mess up,” asked the Riddler to Hiro, “is he going to do that to us?”

“…Let’s not find out the answer to THAT particular riddle, shall we?” suggested the Joker.

“Vortech, where, exactly, does that monstrosity enter into our plan?” asked Hiro. Vortech then chuckled.

“Your services…are no longer required!” declared Vortech.

“…Kisama!” insulted Ambassador Hell.

“YOU’VE DOUBLE-CROSSED THE WRONG MAN, VORTECH!” bellowed Hiro. “Your current numbers against mine make for bad odds!” He loaded his i.d. tag. “HEN…!” He didn’t get very far as Vortech knocked his former flunkies aside.

“Our numbers cannot overwhelm one like Vortech!” called Davros. “We must withdraw!”

“…All hands, retreat!” ordered Hiro. They fled the citadel as ships scrambled to get Shocker Rift away from Vortech.

“MetalBeard!” wailed Wyldstyle. The monstrosity turned to us.

“We are the Quad!” droned the creature with all four heads.

“Robin, stop!” called Batman.

“There is no Robin,” declared the Quad, “only the Quad!”

“Ichimonji, snap out of it!” called Hongo.

“Ichimonji is nothing but a cog for us, the Quad,” droned the Quad. It swung its sword, but a rift opened beneath us.

* * *

I couldn’t help but chuckle as they fled my citadel. “You can’t run forever!” I proclaimed. “Every dimension is mine! And YOURS will be the first to suffer!” I decided to enlarge the scale of my new creature, the Quad. Once it was at the correct height, my order was simple. “Destroy them!” I ordered. “And then, destroy their worlds!” As the Quad flew off, I noticed my pocket was lighter. …NOT AGAIN! Now I’m 115,000 studs lighter!

* * *

“That back-stabbing, no-good, piece of…!” I snarled as the ship left Foundation Prime. “I’M the one who’s supposed to betray HIM, not the other way around!”

“Evidently,” remarked Igura, “Vortech’s played us for fools. What are your orders?”

“…Find a dimension far enough away for some breathing room,” I ordered the Dalek at the helm. “We need to regroup.”

“I obey!” obliged the Dalek as it began a search for a suitable dimension.

* * *

We arrived at Vorton to see it in ruins. Life support was still on, but most of the equipment was under repairs. Sento was busy trying to fix…”X-PO!” cried Wyldstyle.

“No, not another death!” I wailed.

“What have they done to you?!” called Gandalf.

“I guess,” gasped X-PO, “not everyone loves my care-free approach towards protecting the multiverse. Sorry I couldn’t save your…” his voice-box malfunctioned for a bit. “But, I programmed the Gateway,” he continued. “You must stop the Quad! I think this is the end for me, guys.”

“No, don’t talk like that!” I protested. “We’ve got a whole science team to save you!”

“My tech is beyond a lot of scientists,” argued X-PO. “Megumi, try not to blame yourself. I cannot…” his voice finally faded.

“NO!” wailed Wyldstyle. Flora started hugging Brendan, crying. I stumbled backwards, another loss on my hands.

“What do we do?!” asked Gandalf. I didn’t answer.

“…Megumi?” asked Emily. I wiped my face; my sadness being replaced with anger as I allowed myself to turn into Tora-Onna.

“We save our worlds,” I vowed, “and get our friends back!”

“Yeah!” declared Wyldstyle. “And then, we kick Vortech’s butt!”

“At least I made his pocket lighter,” replied Tsukasa. He pulled out a bag of studs. 115,000 was the total, bringing our total to about 4,361,000.

“Tsukasa, see if you can meet with Kiva,” I requested. “Tell him it’s time to gather the Riders. He’ll know which Riders to get.”

“Got it,” confirmed Tsukasa. Rusty opened a rift for him and he went through.

“Track the Quad,” I ordered Elphaba and the Brigadier. “Give me the coordinates and I’ll get us all there. Minna, we’re going at it in full gear!” Hongo struck his pose, we drew our i.d. tags, the Heralds opened their phones, and the Horsemen got their belts ready.

“Rider…!” began Hongo.

“HENSHIN!” we all announced.


	72. Chapter 72

It didn’t take long to find the Quad, at least, if we’re going by time alone. Thanks to the help of the Ironside Dalek, the one that Battle decided to call Tetley, and the Special Weapons Dalek, who Rusty started calling Ab, for Abomination, we found it. By my view, on the other hand, it took an eternity. We found it in Ichigō’s universe. “Sento,” I said, “we’re going to need you.”

“Got it!” declared Sento as he equipped the Build Driver. He shook the Fullbottles and set them into the Driver.

“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” He then turned the crank. “ARE YOU READY?!”

“Henshin!” said Sento. The suit then formed.

“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBITTANK! YAY!” Kamen Rider Build was ready.

“Let’s go!” I declared as I opened a rift beneath us. We traveled to the Kamen Rider universe to see the others already fighting the Quad.

“HEY! THERE YOU ARE!” shouted Den-O in his Climax Form. Kiva had the blue left arm, a green right arm, and a purple chest. Wizard was in his Flame Dragon Style. Ex-aid was piloting a giant mech that looked like his face. OOO was using the Tajador combo. Kabuto was in his slimmer state. Fourze’s suit was red and had a fire motif. Brave had armor over his usual suit that looked demonic. W was in FangJoker mode. Ghost’s suit was red and black. Para-DX was in his Puzzle Gamer state. Poppy was still Poppy. Drive was wearing armor that made him look like a Formula-1 race car. Bravo was still Bravo. Gaim looked a lot like a Shogun in complete armor, with twin sashimono with his symbol on them. Amazon was swiping at the Vortexons pooling at the Quad’s feet. Stronger was there too, sporting silver trim. Decade had a shoulder band of all the Kamen Ride cards in a row going across his shoulders, pink eyes, and his own Kamen Ride card on his head. The pink part of the Decadriver was at his right hip and in its original place was some sort of phone.

“You cannot defeat us!” declared the Quad. “We are too powerful!”

“Ichimonji, come to your senses!” Stronger yelled.

“He can’t hear you right now!” shouted Ichigō as we joined in the fray.

“Build,” I suggested, “now might be a good time to power up.”

“Excellent idea,” agreed Build as he pulled out a red device with some sort of clear lid covering a blue button. He opened the lid and pressed the button.

“MAX HAZARD ON!” it warned. He put it into the Build Driver and took out a long tube, gold and black on one end, silver and black on the other. He shook it and it mad jumping noises a few times. He then twisted the gold cap end as a red light flashed on the silver end. The twist revealed a rabbit’s head.

“RABBIT!” announced the tube in the Build Driver’s voice. He pulled the tube apart and joined it at the sides, putting it into the Build Driver. “RABBIT AND RABBIT!” said the tube before the Build Driver took over.

“BUILD UP!” it said. It then looped on “Don Ten Kan! Don Ten Kan!” onomatopoeia for heavy machinery starting up. Build then turned the crank and the belt looped on “Gata Gata Gotton! Zutan Zuttan!” onomatopoeia for heavy machinery really going to town. He then stopped as a red rabbit machine hopped into view and an injection molding template surrounded Build. “ARE YOU READY?!” said the belt.

“Build Up!” ordered Build. The template slammed onto him, then retracted back into the belt to reveal him in a black suit with only the RabbitTank eyes in color.

“OVERFLOW!” announced the Build Driver. The mechanical rabbit then split apart. Its front legs went onto Build’s forearms, its rear legs onto his lower legs, and the head and body formed chest armor while a faceplate came down his head, making the eyes both rabbit and having gold trim around them. “KURENAI NO SPEEDY JUMPER!” (The Crimson Speedy Jumper) the Build Driver said. “RABBITRABBIT! YABEI! HAEI!” (Look out! Too fast!) He then stretched his arm as he punched!

“What are you, Mr. Fantastic?!” yelped Guard.

“Can we focus already?!” I shouted. We continued fighting, soon thinning out the Vortexons, but the Quad had opened a rift beneath him. “AFTER HIM!” I ordered everyone. Even the Riders we met along the way had joined us. Our new destination was on the side of a building.

“This isn’t Gotham,” declared Batman.

“Nor is this Middle-Earth,” Gandalf pointed out, “unless they’ve redecorated.” Wyldstyle shook her head.

“It’s the Octan Tower,” she revealed. “Except gravity’s all wrong.” Benny the Spaceman came up.

“Gravity’s all wrong?” he asked. “I think I would have noticed something like that!” He was under an outcropping as a rift from above him sucked him in.

“That’s just…terrifying,” gulped Fourze.

“As I was saying,” Wyldstyle resumed, “we should be falling towards that!” She pointed to an energy vortex of darkness at the bottom of the tower. “I mean, I’m glad we’re not.”

“As am I!” assured Gaim.

“The Quad’s already altering this dimension,” said Batman. “Let’s move.” The Quad then appeared. It leveled its cannon arm at us and fired! We got out of the way and landed on the platforms that were just floating there. The Quad’s heads rotated towards each other, each shifting their attention to another, appearing to be in a debate, before it retreated.

“We control the elements!” it spoke. “We control ALL the gateways! Element of fire, the Quad!” Gandalf doubled over in pain as he gripped his Keystone gauntlet. The Quad was then surrounded in the aura that the fire element is associated with.

“It’s triggered a Keystone?” asked Wyldstyle.

“What other powers has Vortech given it?” wondered Decade.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I don’t intend to find out!” The Quad set some areas on a platform, the one we were travelling towards, on fire.

“Two can play at that game!” declared Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of earth, Batman!”

“Earth? Why?” asked OOO.

“Because we can use that seedling there!” Gandalf pointed out the seedling.

“One minute,” said Outback as he swapped i.d. tags.

“Batman Steel!” announced his belt. His armor changed and he fired a grapple gun at a bookcase, pulling it down. Batman then used his current earth powers to make the seedling grow into a vine bridge to the next platform. The Quad’s heads then turned to each other to debate, then agree on something.

“Anybody else see that?” asked Kämpfer.

“The Quad debating with itself?” I asked.

“That’s the one,” Kämpfer confirmed.

“It seems this abomination,” ruminated Batman, “has different personalities which can influence the world, just like the Keystones can.”

“That’s something to use to our advantage,” mused Clash. “Endless debate.”

“We’ve got more immediate concerns,” Wizard pointed out. “That fiery path there is also electrified!” He pointed out the path to the next platform.

“I got this,” assured Batman. He threw a batarang at a switch, making another one pop up.

“And I got THIS,” declared Den-O as he pulled the switch. The electricity switched off, so it was just fire. “Okay! Hit me!” demanded Den-O.

“But not an actual hit,” he then said in Urataros’ voice.

“THEY KNOW WHAT I MEANT!” shouted Momotaros’ voice.

“Element of water, Den-O!” declared Gandalf. Den-O led the way as he doused the flames. Wyldstyle then started twitching.

“Master Builder senses, tingling!” she said excitedly.

“Mind if I assist?” asked Zhànshì. He swapped i.d. tags.

“Wyldstyle Steel!” announced his belt. He and Wyldstyle then built a tightrope end out of a desk and some speakers. The rope was thrown near the Quad and we all rappelled down to it. Sadly, the Quad opened a rift before we could do anything and we went tumbling through the vortex. We managed to hit a few bits of rubble that tumbled with us. We soon landed in a pit, looking almost like a forge. A giant tree landed in the pit as Orcs came to chop it up.

“Up there!” yelped Battle. We looked up to see the Quad climbing Orthanc! We were in Middle-Earth again!

“As you can see,” said the Quad in its collective, monotonous voice, “nothing can stop us. Lord Vortech’s one, true dimension will be a reality!”

“I don’t believe it!” shouted Gandalf. “These Orc forges are below Isengard! I will not allow Middle-Earth to be destroyed!”

“Neither will we!” I declared. “Start climbing!” Ichigō then felt pain in his left arm.

“I think the Quad’s activated the Scale Keystone!” he gasped.

“We can use that to our advantage,” I mused as I saw a vent. “Ichigō-san, if you please?”

“Lessen scale of Royal!” Ichigō ordered his Keystone. I shrank and saw a push switch. I pushed it hard and a bucket was raised by a rope. I came out and Ichigō restored me to my normal height.

“My turn,” said Wizard. He flipped the WizarDriver’s levers and rotated the hand.

“Lupachi magic, touch to go!” it chanted before Wizard scanned a ring. “Levitate, please!” it said before Wizard made the bucket fly into the air and dump the contents. Gandalf used his own magic to assemble a ladder. When it was finished, a rift dumped a pair of clouds and a rainbow to make a path upwards.

“That’s a piece of Cloud Cuckoo Land!” gasped Wyldstyle.

“Okay,” I declared, “we have to stop this madness!” We climbed upwards to find another vent, a long one that wrapped around the top of another ledge. The Orcs had already broken the ladder, so Wyldstyle used a table to make another one.

“One of you, get on top!” ordered Ichigō. Claw went up top and dispatched the Orcs. “Is there a breach in the vent?!” asked Ichigō.

“Yes,” confirmed Claw. “A large one, big enough for two patches. I can see both of them here!”

“Enlarge scale of Claw!” Ichigō told his Keystone. She grew and applied the patches to the vents. “Lessen scale of Herald G and Herald Y!” Both Herald Riders shrunk and Herald Y went under the dangling piece. “Enlarge scale of Herald Y!” Herald Y grew and Herald G crawled into the vent, messing with the electronics. She then went to the upper ledge when she saw another dangling bit.

“Ichigō, I need to shrink!” requested Claw.

“Lessen scale of Claw!” Ichigō told the Keystone. Claw then went under the dangling bit.

“Okay, make me grow again!” she said.

“Enlarge scale of Claw!” Ichigō told his Keystone again. Claw grew and Herald G proceeded to mess with the electronics again. All of a sudden, a giant water wheel started moving. It led to a higher ledge.

“I think that did it!” said Wyldstyle. “Let’s get going!”

“Normalize scales of Claw, Herald G, and Herald Y!” Ichigō ordered his Keystone. We then traveled up the water wheel and fought our way through Orcs to get to an elevator. Once we got through, the elevator took us up to the base of Orthanc.

“Sorry, no admission!” declared the Quad.

“Something lies within the Tower of Orthanc,” guessed Gandalf, “it wishes to remain hidden.”

“Then let’s discover it!” I declared.

“YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” boomed the Quad.

“Plagiarist!” I responded.

“It’s one thing to deny us entry,” agreed Gandalf, “but quite another to steal a man’s words!”

“Guys! Look!” exclaimed Wyldstyle. She had pointed out a Chroma Lock design scattered across the Orc flags. An orange left L-shape, a purple right L-shape, and a blue circle.

“It looks like the Chroma Discs are up high,” said OOO. He was right. Two of them were in cages and one of them was on a platform.

“Get them down!” I ordered. Batman pulled one down while Gandalf magicked the other down.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” Wyldstyle told her Keystone. “Chroma Lock, reveal! Chroma! Red! Brave! Chroma! Yellow! Den-O! Chroma! Blue! Fourze!” The three Riders jumped into the paint blobs and then arranged themselves into the Chroma Lock. Fourze landed in the blue circle, then joined Brave in the right L-shape, then Brave joined Den-O in the left L-shape. Orthanc’s doors then opened while the Quad fired on us. The tower was hiding another rift as it sucked us in. This time, the Quad followed us. We landed on a rooftop. Over in the sky, we saw the Bat signal!

“Gotham,” said Batman. “We’re in Gotham. I recognize this city anywhere.”

“The Quad was right behind us, right?” I inquired.

“Now that you mention it, yes,” confirmed Guard. “So, where is it?”

“Guys, over there!” yelped Touché. She pointed to three rifts in the sky with images in them. They were of Wyldstyle, Gandalf, and Ichigō’s worlds. They seemed to be bleeding into each other.

“That looks bad,” said Bravo.

“A by-product of Vortech’s tampering?” I wondered.

“Possibly,” said Build. As soon as he made the guess, four people arrived. One was a black man with most of his body in metal. The second was a green-skinned kid with pointy ears. The third was an orange-skinned girl with red hair, green eyes, and a purple skirt and top. The last was a young woman with ashen grey skin, purple and black hair, a navy cloak and hood, and a leotard with long sleeves.

“Titans, what are you doing here?!” demanded Batman.

“We had the Bat signal on for a week now, after this nonsense started!” explained the cyborg.

“So you thought it was a good idea to go into a battle zone without Robin,” snapped Batman. “Very good leadership, Cyborg. Didn’t any of you object?!”

“It didn’t seem right to object,” said the girl in the cloak.

“You, of all people, Raven?!” groaned Batman.

“After I felt Robin vanish,” explained Raven, “I knew something was up. We’ve searched for weeks, Beast Boy staying in animal forms for longer than ever.”

“It wasn’t exactly pleasant,” said the green kid.

“When this mess started,” began Cyborg, “and you weren’t here, I felt someone had to protect Gotham.”

“What about Jump City?” asked Batman.

“The League of Justice is doing the protecting of our home,” explained the orange girl. I think her name was Starfire, or something. I don’t know, the only heroes in the DC universe I know of are Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In any event, the conversation was cut short. The bleeding rifts closed, allowing a clean one to open, deposit various items from the forges below Isengard, and letting the Quad land near us. It towered over the building, giving us a sense of insignificance.

“…Batman, we’re gonna need the Titans’ help,” I muttered.


	73. Chapter 73

“This is it!” declared the Quad. “Your dimensions are becoming one! Lord Vortech will reign supreme!”

“Not as long as we draw breath!” I countered. The Quad’s response was to swing its sword.

“You are already too late!” it said. “Our work has been done!” It summoned Vortexons and fired ice beams from Robin’s eyes.

“Robin,” pleaded Batman as we fought off the Vortexons, “if you’re still in there, you must stop this!” Unfortunately, Robin couldn’t hear us. The Quad slammed its fists down, trying to crush us.

“We could really use some help!” yelped Cyborg as he was surrounded by Vortexons.

“We need to get into the upper chest!” Wizard pointed out as he slashed with his WizarSwordGun.

“Allow me,” said Raven. Her hands then became shrouded in darkness. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” she chanted. She blasted a hole in the Quad’s upper chest.

“Batman, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, Ichigō! With me!” I ordered. “Wizard, get us in there!”

“I’m not letting you go alone!” declared Guard.

“Guard, stay here with everyone else!” I demanded. “I need you to keep the enemy off our backs!”

“But…!” protested Guard.

“That’s an order!” I snapped. Guard hesitated for a bit.

“Be careful in there,” he finally said.

“No promises,” I countered. “Wizard, if you please?” Wizard flipped the levers and a familiar chant played before he cast levitate on us before returning to the fight. We landed in a room that was much bigger than I thought. There, held in an energy cage, was Ichimonji! “Get him down from there!” I shouted.

“Get away from that!” demanded a voice. We turned and Gandalf recognized the figure.

“Caan!” he gasped. Caan was wearing his Dal Driver!

“I have a raging headache,” snarled Caan, “from all the timeline changes going on now! I will only say this once! If you do not allow Vortech to succeed, allowing him at least 3,724 rels to do so, you will be exterminated!”

“It would help if you didn’t use Dalek units of time!” I snapped.

“All right,” hissed Caan, “if you insist on using your inferior measurements of time, roughly 3 hours and 6 minutes. One rel is three seconds.”

“I’m not giving Vortech even ONE second to succeed!” I declared.

“You now have 3.33 rels to reconsider,” warned Caan.

“I don’t require a third of a rel!” I declared.

“Final warning, surrender!” threatened Caan. “Consider the chaos that will follow.”

“I’m going to do what I can to prevent that!” I said.

“Allocated surrender period has expired!” declared Caan as he took out the Pure Dalek can. “Consequence: extermination!” He set the can into the Dal Driver.

“PURE DALEK!” announced the belt. He then turned the crank. “ARE YOU READY?!”

“Henshin!” said Caan. The suit formed.

“THE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!” announced the belt. “PURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!” Caan was now Kamen Rider Dal. He leapt onto me and delivered punch after punch to my face.

“You have been interfering for too long!” he said in the Dalek’s usual tone. Batman then grabbed one of his fists.

“I guess manners have been sifted out of the Daleks’ genetic code!” he snarled. “Davros really screwed up on you!”

“UNHAND ME!” screeched Dal as he flung Batman aside. I took that opportunity to drive my knee into his crotch. He didn’t even flinch. He just looked down with curiosity.

“…No way!” I said. Dal then flung me into a wall and punched me in the gut! I was briefly winded. Gandalf then whacked him with his staff. Dal turned to face him.

“I haven’t forgotten you!” he droned. He then held out his left hand.

“DAL GUN!” announced the Dal Driver. His gun then appeared and he fired! We got out of the way and kept our distance.

“Any suggestions?!” I asked my teammates.

“I got one!” declared Batman as he fired his grappled gun. Dal ducked.

“You missed,” he droned.

“Did I?” smirked Batman. The hook had latched onto the railing overhead and Batman tugged hard. The walkway tumbled down onto Dal and some rubble crashed onto the control panel, freeing Ichimonji! Something then tumbled out of a panel in the wall.

“ICHIMONJI’S TYPHOON!” called Ichigō, identifying the device. While Dal tried to get the walkway off of him, Ichigō fastened the Typhoon around Ichimonji’s waist. Ichimonji managed to quickly regain his strength.

“Hongo?” he asked. “Am I glad to see you!”

“It’s good to have you back, Ichimonji,” replied Ichigō. “Now that we have you free, the Quad should be less effective.”

“And we have a Foundation Element in our grasp again,” cheered Gandalf.

“You mean, my Typhoon?” quizzed Ichimonji. “With all due respect, you have it all wrong. It’s not my belt, it’s Tachibana’s pipe.”

“WHAT?!” yelped Ichigō. “I thought Mayu had it!”

“From what I’ve heard,” explained Ichimonji, “Shocker Rift attacked her home and stole the pipe away from her.”

“Desecration!” snarled Ichigō.

“Tachibana?” I asked, needing a reminder. I know I heard that name before.

“Tōbei Tachibana was my father figure after my parents’ death,” explained Ichigō. “He had a habit of smoking a pipe and, subsequently, died of lung cancer. His granddaughter, Mayu, kept his pipe as a keepsake.”

“And Shocker Rift stole it from her because it was a Foundation Element,” I guessed, “the one from your world!”

“Correct,” confirmed Ichimonji.

“And, with that,” barked a Dalek’s voice as Dal stood up, “you have permanently twisted the future to YOUR desired end! So, it’s up to me to put it back!” He jumped out of the hole we made in the Quad and joined the fight.

“I’ll help!” Ichimonji declared to us.

“You can’t have recovered that fast!” I protested.

“I’m a Kaizo Ningen,” (modified human, Japanese phrase for cyborgs) smirked Ichimonji. “I HAVE recovered that fast.” He then faced the opening we made, then flung his arms to the side and rotated them until his left fist went upwards and his right fist pointed to his left elbow. “HENSHIN!” he announced before leaping into the fight down below. The shield on his Typhoon opened and his suit formed. His suit was built like Ichigō’s, but the helmet coloration was different. It was a lighter shade of green with a white stripe going between the eyes and going to the back of the head. The mouth-guard was silver as well. Other than that, you could easily confuse him for Ichigō.

“YOU FREED KAMEN RIDER NIGŌ!” cheered Sengoku as he punched a Vortexon.

“That will do you no good!” called the Quad. “We are still in command of all the gateways!”

“Okay, we need to take care of the MetalBeard bit!” I called.

“If I may!” shouted Cyborg as he fired into the right shoulder.

“Thank you!” I replied as my team headed into the shoulder. MetalBeard was in an energy cage like Nigō was.

“Okay, I can see chroma discs,” Wyldstyle pointed out, “and the lock design,” yellow circle, blue right L-shape, purple left L-shape, “but how do we get to them? They’re behind energy shields.”

“Perhaps I can find a solution,” replied Gandalf. He found a loose wall panel in the center of the energy shields and yanked it off with his magic. Behind the panel was a machine with a control panel. The machine had a pointer that indicated which shield should go down.

“I’ll take care of it,” remarked Batman. “Wyldstyle, you better get things started.”

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock reveal!” Batman then moved the pointer to the shield around the red Chroma Disc. “Chroma! Red! Gandalf!” announced Wyldstyle. Gandalf went into the red paint and jumped into the left L-shape. Batman then moved the pointer to the yellow shield and the shield around that vanished while the shield around red went back up. The yellow disc was on a high ledge. Wyldstyle went up. “Chroma! Yellow! Wyldstyle!” she called as she jumped into the paint, then into the circle. Batman moved the pointer one last time, allowing access to the blue paint and closing off access to the yellow. “Chroma! Blue! Ichigō!” Ichigō jumped into the blue paint, then jumped into Gandalf’s position before landing in the right L-shape. The Chroma lock then activated a lever by MetalBeard’s cage.

“I got it!” I announced as I yanked on the lever. The cage deactivated and MetalBeard was released!

“Arr, ye did it!” cheered MetalBeard. “But, ye gotta free the others! Being trapped in this thing is...arr!” I presume he said that to replace whatever swear went through his mind.

“We already freed Ichimonji,” I revealed. “He’s fighting the enemy down below. Would you like to join or go to safety on Vorton? Your call.”

“After being stuffed in this contraption?!” growled MetalBeard. “Nay, I be joining the fight below!” He charged out of the Quad through the hole we made and started attacking the Vortexons. We followed him and rejoined the battle. The Quad felt its power diminish.

“No!” it protested in all four voices. “We are only a fraction of Lord Vortech’s power! He shall rule over everything!”

“Not as long as we exist!” argued Touché as she swapped i.d. tags.

“Wyldstyle steel!” announced her belt. She then built a massive cannon out of debris and fired it into the lower chest.

“Get going!” called Touché. My team and I jumped into the chest and we found ourselves in a room where Frodo Baggins was being held!

“This calls for the Scale Keystone,” reported Ichigō as he pointed to a vent.

“It’s broken, though!” I pointed out. “Where are the patches?!”

“Someone call?” asked Batman as he brought them down from the ceiling.

“Batman, you’re a life-saver!” I cheered.

“It’s what I do,” responded Batman.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” announced Ichigō. “Enlarge scale of Ichigō!” He grew and attached the patches, then held up a dangling bit. “Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” Gandalf grew and held up another dangling bit. “Lessen scale of Royal!” I shrank and traveled through the vent, messing with the electronics along the way until I heard the crackle of an energy cage deactivating. I got out of the vent to see Frodo picking himself up! “Normalize scale of all!” announced Ichigō as we all returned to normal size. Gandalf rushed over to Frodo to check on him.

“Frodo, my boy!” he called. “Are you all right?”

“A little dizzy,” muttered Frodo, “but I shall be fine, Gandalf.”

“Good to know,” said Gandalf. He then turned to me. “See if Vorton can get him home,” he asked me.

“No!” countered Frodo. He then revealed Sting! “I have a bone to pick with Vortech! Defeating his troops should help me get the message across!”

“...Are you quite sure?” quizzed Gandalf.

“I’ve never been more sure in my life!” affirmed Frodo. He went through the hole we made and jumped down into the fight, Sting flashing in the moonlight. “FOR THE SHIRE!” he called.

“Our power will not be diminished!” called the Quad as we leapt out of it.

“It looks like it IS!” I replied as we fought the Vortexons.

“You cannot!” rebuked the Quad. “You cannot free them from our bonds!”

“I’d say,” countered Wizard as he hefted a large stone, “we just did!” He tossed the stone into the Quad’s lower chest and made one last hole.

“Hold on, Robin!” called Batman as we leapt in. There was a ledge that was on fire when we got inside and something that required electricity.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Wyldstyle!” Wyldstyle was surrounded in a red aura and leapt onto the ledge, deactivating part of the cage. “Element of lightning, Royal!” I fired a stream of lightning into a coil that powered a switch. Gandalf set it to the off position and the cage faded, releasing Robin. Batman went to check on his son.

“Robin, speak to me!” he called as he shook his young ward.

“STOP SHAKING ME!” shouted Robin. Batman stopped as he realized what he was doing. “Sheesh, Batman,” commented Robin, “I didn’t know you cared!”

“Well, he’s your dad,” I responded, “of course he does.” Robin stared at me until he remembered something.

“That’s right, you’re from a universe where we’re fiction and our lives are lain bare,” he remarked. Just then, an alarm sounded and our exit was blocked.

“Uh oh!” I yelped. I then called Vorton. “Guys, we need an immediate evac! Lock onto to us and our allies! Get us to Vorton!”

“Got you!” responded Elphaba’s voice. “I got your allies here, but you five are the only ones we can’t get a lock on! There’s a clear area deeper in the Quad! See if you can get there!” We did as she asked, dodging rubble along the way. We got to the clear area to see the blob Vortech had used to make the Quad.

“Yeah, that looks like a bit of Vortech to me!” called Wyldstyle.

“I can almost taste the malevolence emanating from it!” hissed Gandalf.

“Well, IT’S about to taste some justice!” snarled Batman as he pulled out a batarang.

“Holy clichés, Batman,” remarked Robin. I then stared at Robin. He guessed what I was saying in my head. “I was being purposefully ironic!” he protested.

“Uh huh, sure,” I replied. Batman tossed the batarang and it hit the blob. Just then, the place started to shake and things were being pulled into it!

“It’s collapsing in on itself!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“I hadn’t noticed!” I roared, sarcasm not even bothering to be disguised.

“I hope Vorton provides us with a means of escape soon!” called Gandalf.

“They better have!” shouted Batman. Unfortunately, things went awry!


	74. Chapter 74

We awoke in the med-bay of Vorton. I sat up, a little too quickly, and got dizzy. “Easy,” said a masculine Japanese voice. “Save your strength.” I looked up to see Hiiro putting his hand on my shoulder. Emu and Emily were next to him.

“What happened?” I asked as I realized I wasn’t in my suit.

“When that thing started collapsing in on itself,” explained Emu, “Death fired some sort of beam to your location, allowing Vorton to pick you guys up before they rescued us.”

“The ones you rescued are safe,” assured Emily, sensing my worry. “They’re waiting outside for you lot.” I heard stirring as my team and Robin woke up. Once things were deemed okay, we explained the story and were released from the med-bay. When we left, our friends greeted us.

“Wyldstyle!” cheered MetalBeard.

“Gandalf, we got out!” called Frodo.

“Of the frying pan, yes,” countered Gandalf.

“Did we destroy the piece of Vortech?” wondered Robin.

“We did,” confirmed Batman, “but if that’s what a tiny piece of Vortech can do, we’re going to need help.”

“From who?” asked Momotaros. “We got all the help right here!”

“No, we don’t,” I countered. “We need help from a few of our new friends, and maybe an enemy. One that Chell should be familiar with.” Chell then signed something hurriedly.

“I agree!” affirmed Tanisha. “We’re NOT recruiting GLaDOS into this!”

“We need an a.i to help run things,” I explained.

“Then let’s get someone else!” begged Emily.

“My mind’s made up,” I said, putting my foot down. “Tanisha, you will retrieve GLaDOS. Michael, I need you to get the Doctor. We need X-PO back online. Xiomara, you’re getting the Ghostbusters. Richard, Mr. Saunders, I need you to get, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Mr. Simpson. Hiroki, I need you to get the Ninjago team. Elphaba, scour the multiverse for Dorothy and her friends.” Elphaba winced. “Wyldstyle, see if you can gather more Master Builders. Gandalf, I need you to gather the Fellowship. Batman, get the Justice League. Livia, I need you to get the Gamer Kid and whatever characters you can retrieve. Haitao, see who you can get in _Jurassic World_. Tonje, you’re going to Chima. Mikhail, I need you to pick up Mystery Incorporated. Josh, I need you to make contact with Marty and Doc Brown. I’ll pick up Godzilla. The rest of us will train with the Kamen Riders and Vader and his men.”

“Your Majesty,” piped up Rusty, “you may want to answer this distress call. I heard that a _Prometheus_ -class starship from S-T-4-R-T-R-3-K was a Foundation Element. I’ve found that ship’s crew and Captain.”

“Get them here,” I ordered. “We may need Starfleet’s help.” A portal opened and the crew, led by a Klingon woman with all four pips on the collar of her red shirt, came onto Vorton.

“Q let us contact your home,” explained the Klingon Captain. “I am Captain Sh’Kar of the _U.S.S. Enterprise-H_.”

“Welcome to Vorton, Captain,” I said. “I am Queen Megumi Hishikawa of the Vortex Riders. Forgive me if I don’t guide you around the place, but we’re rather pressed for time. We’re picking up allies for our final battle with the one who stole your ship. Would you like to join us?”

“Is a Vulcan logically minded?!” snarked Sh’Kar. “You ask a Klingon if she would like to join the fight?! Of course! Besides, I have a mission with my crew to begin! I can’t do that without a ship!”

“Then Emmanuel will give you the tour and you can join the rest of my people in training,” I told her.

“Before you gather allies,” Sh’Kar stopped me, “do you have any idea what these are?” It was a pouch of studs, 125,000, to be exact.

“Money,” I explained. Sh’Kar handed the pouch to me. “How do you guys pay for goods when dealing with Ferengi?” I asked.

“A small supply of latinum is given to each officer,” explained Sh’Kar. “How rich are you now?”

“We’re now at 4,486,000 studs,” I elaborated. I turned to my people. “All right, ladies and gentlemen, you know your objectives?” Everyone confirmed. “Rusty, send us to our destinations!”

“I obey!” confirmed Rusty. She sent us through, starting with Xiomara.

* * *

I found myself on a pump-car on an old subway line. I shrugged, figuring I didn’t need it. I then heard someone shout “Hello!”

“Hola?!” I responded.

“Hey!” called another voice.

“Ghostbusters? Is that you?” I quizzed.

“Xiomara?!” called Peter as the Ghostbusters rounded a corner.

“Ghostbusters, hola!” I said. I was hugged from all sides. “It’s nice to see you too!” I affirmed. “However, my business here is not to catch up with you guys. I know the world ending is nothing new to you four, but this is bigger than just the world.”

“Judgment Day,” guessed Ray.

“Si, only worse,” I replied. “I’ll fill you in.”

“WINSTON!” called a demonic voice. It sounded like it was from behind us.

“Okay, I’m outta here!” yelped Winston. We backed up, almost stumbling over ourselves.

“Rusty,” I stammered into the comms, “I found them and could really use a...” I turned and saw a shriveled, severed head! I screamed and soon, many more heads in the same condition appeared around us! We all screamed as long as they stayed! Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, they vanished. “...Everyone okay...?” I mumbled. The Ghostbusters mumbled their confirmation, then a whistle sounded.

“Did you hear that?” asked Peter.

“It sounded like a...train,” mumbled Winston.

“Uh uh,” argued Ray. “These lines have been abandoned for...fifty years.”

“...Oh,” I said. We walked further forward and then...I heard them! Train wheels on rails! We turned around to see the light of a steam engine coming right for us! The Ghostbusters got out of the way, but I was frozen in fear! Thankfully, it was a ghost train, so it passed through me, but I still screamed as it did! It vanished into the darkness and the Ghostbusters came up to me to see if I was okay.

“That must have been terrifying!” guessed Winston.

“I think it was the train that went through you, Winston!” theorized Egon. “The old New York Central, City of Albany! Derailed in 1920! Killed hundreds of people! Did you catch the number on the locomotive?!”

“Lo siento, Señor Spengler!” I weakly apologized, still getting over my fright. “I missed it!”

* * *

I couldn’t believe my eyes! I was in front of the first iteration of the TARDIS! The one William Hartnell used! I approached the box and lightly touched the door, causing it to open. “What on earth?!” spluttered an old man’s voice. I heard footsteps and saw a man with white hair poke his head out. “Young man,” he griped, “do you realize how dangerous it is to just waltz into someone’s house?!”

“Er, begging your pardon, sir,” I said, pretending not to know this old man, “but I simply tried knock and the door moved on its own.” The old man grabbed his lapels in contemplation.

“Goodness me,” he muttered to himself. “It seems I forgot to lock it.” He then returned his attention to me. “What do you want?” he asked.

“I don’t suppose you know of a doctor around here?” I asked.

“My dear boy, you happen to be talking to one,” explained the old man, the First Doctor. “Come inside and tell me your troubles.”

“What, in there?!” I said, feigning ignorance about the TARDIS’ internal dimensions.

“Well, I can’t exactly have you freezing out here, can I?” snapped the Doctor. “Come in and shut the door! I don’t want a draft!” I followed him in and then lit up my face in astonishment. I’ve always wanted to be stunned at the TARDIS’ interior.

“Good heavens!” I breathed. “This is impossible!”

“Impossible?” snapped the Doctor as he fiddled with the console, the time rotor in the center not going all the way up to the ceiling. “Whatever next?” Just then, the TARDIS shuddered and took off on its own!

“What’s going on?!” I yelped, really wanting to know the answer.

“I don’t know!” responded the Doctor as he worked the controls. “Dear boy, go and check the fault locator, in that wall over there!” Most TARDIS console rooms don’t have it, but a fault locator does exactly as it says on the tin, it locates faults in the TARDIS’ systems. I checked it and got the readout.

“System J-27-Beta!” I called.

“J-27-Beta?” asked the Doctor. “Oh dear. You haven’t touched anything, have you?”

“No, why?” I responded.

“Well, you see,” explained the Doctor, “J-27-Beta is what keeps me from travelling into my future.” Just then, the TARDIS shook again and the console room looked slightly different. “Oh dear, it’s already started!” breathed the Doctor. I then noticed something on the console, by the time rotor. I picked the object up and examined it with the Doctor.

“A recorder?” I muttered.

“What on earth is that infernal thing doing in my TARDIS?” asked the Doctor.

“Excuse me, may I have that back?” asked a new voice. We whirled around to see a man in a Beatles' haircut and dressing like a hobo. His hand was outstretched. I put the recorder into his hand and he put his mouth to it, playing a few notes. He then inspected it with a furrowed brow. “You haven’t been trying to play this, have you?” he asked. He then saw the Doctor. “Oh dear, we ARE in a pickle, aren’t we?”

“I presume this is YOUR TARDIS, sir?” asked the Doctor, rather One, since HIS immediate future incarnation, Two, was now with us. “I don’t like it,” muttered One. Two frowned

“So young, and yet so old,” he muttered. The TARDIS then changed again, altering just a bit. “Oh no,” moaned Two. “It’s that old fop’s TARDIS. My word, he’s always trying to show off!”

“You’re no joy to work with either, you midget hobo!” came an erudite voice. An older man in fancy clothes came in. “I take it YOU’RE the reason System J-27-Beta is out of commission.”

“Indeed not!” argued Two. He and the dandy, Doctor number Three, then started arguing.

“Oh, good heavens, will you lot stop messing about?!” snapped One.

“He started it!” argued Two and Three together. The TARDIS then changed into a wooden room with the console in wood and no time rotor.

“Oh, there you are!” said a jovial voice. A man with a mop of curly hair and an enormous grin and long, multi-colored scarf appeared with a bag of something in his hand. “I don’t suppose either of you would like a Jelly-baby?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t mind one,” I said. The man, the Fourth Doctor, let me reach into the bag and I took an orange one. The sweetness took me by surprise.

“Oh, don’t like it?” guessed Four.

“No, I do,” I assured him, “it’s just been a while since I had one.” The console room then went back to white and the time rotor came back. Standing there was a man in a cricketer’s uniform with a stick of celery on his left lapel.

“Good heavens, that can’t be right,” muttered the man, Doctor Five. “Well, time to fix...” He then caught sight of us. “YOU!” he exclaimed. “How did you lot get into my TARDIS?!”

“I could ask the same question!” said a rather loud voice. The owner was a man wearing some brightly colored patchwork coat! We all screamed in pain as our eyes saw it. The man, Doctor Six, put his hands to his hips.

“Please, tell me you’re me at my last incarnation!” begged Five.

“Why should I tell you such a lie?!” snapped Six. “I come directly after you! Good thing, too. A stick of celery on such a boring outfit?!”

“Oh, Rassilon, you’re worse!” moaned Four. “You’re the Mid-lives crisis!”

“MID-LIVES CRISIS?!” protested Six.

“I’d say that’s rather accurate,” said another voice. The owner, Doctor Seven, was a little man with a question-mark waistcoat, or vest, if you’re American. “Good heavens,” muttered Seven. “It’s as they say, too many cooks spoil the child!”

“...Spoil the soup,” I corrected. The TARDIS changed again. It looked more like a library and the time rotor went all the way up to the ceiling.

“What are you lot doing here?!” demanded a voice. We whirled around to see a man with long, wavy hair, the Eighth Doctor. “You can’t just stroll into my TARDIS like that!” snapped Eight. The TARDIS changed again. The walls were back to having roundels, but now there were coral supports. “...System J-27-Beta?” he guessed.

“It looks that way,” rasped an older voice. A war weary man then approached us. “It looks like time is showing its disappointment in me,” sighed the man, the incarnation most fans call the War Doctor.

“You’re not involved with the Time War, are you?” asked Eight.

“Time war?” asked One. The walls changed to yellow.

“Yeah, and he made a mistake that cost us Gallifrey!” snarled a voice that sounded like it was from the north. A man in a leather jacket arrived. “Because we lost our home, I can’t call him the Doctor!” snarled the man, Doctor Nine.

“What I did, I did without choice!” argued W. Doctor. “In the name of peace and sanity!”

“You didn’t do it in the name of the Doctor!” said another voice. Another man in a long coat approached. The TARDIS changed again to look more steampunk. “Okay, who touched what?!” demanded the new man, Doctor Ten.

“I’d say you lot touched something!” said a voice as someone in a bowtie tripped into view. Yes, I meant “tripped”. The man, Doctor Eleven, was one of the clumsiest Doctors.

“Wait, you two are my replacements?” asked Nine. “A pretty boy and a baby giraffe?!”

“More like uncoordinated house-cat!” replied W. Doctor.

“OI!” snapped Eleven. “I am NOT uncoordinated! And YOU!” he pointed to Nine. “How about those ears, Dumbo?!”

“My ears are just fine!” snapped Nine. The TARDIS then changed into Twelve’s.

“Good Lord, will you all stop arguing?!” snapped Twelve as he arrived. Eleven looked confused. “Seriously, it’s like dealing with pudding brained versions of yourself!” he griped.

“That...makes no sense,” whispered Eleven. “Pretty Boy over there...”

“OI!” protested Ten.

“...regenerated into that body again, making him the eleventh and twelfth incarnation,” continued Eleven. “Strictly speaking, I’m the last Doctor. So, why am I getting the same sense of familiarity with you as I do with them?”

“The Time Lords granted us a new regeneration cycle,” explained Twelve.

“The Time Lords?” asked Nine.

“But...they’re gone,” said a confused Ten. “HE killed them!” He was pointing to W. Doctor. Just then, the TARDIS landed.

“Well, it looks like explanations will wait,” I said.

“Michael, were you the one who fiddled with System J-27-Beta?” Twelve asked me. His previous incarnations looked at me.

“Michael?” asked One. “That’s your name?”

“...Yes, sir,” I replied, dropping the charade.

“And he addressed you by name,” noted Two.

“You’ve been in the TARDIS before, haven’t you?” quizzed Nine.

“Yes, Doctor,” I confirmed. “Specifically, this exact TARDIS interior. And, to answer your question, Twelve, I didn’t touch System J-27-Beta! While Six appeared, I had a brief chat with the TARDIS. It sabotaged that system itself.”

“You did what?!” Twelve snapped at the TARDIS. It beeped its reply. “You know the laws of time as well as I do! I can’t travel with my previous incarnations! On top of them risking creating a weak point with their mere presence, they cramp my style!”

“A magician with style?” muttered W. Doctor.

“Look, if we can all concentrate!” I snapped. All Doctors turned to me. “I’ve just had another chat with the TARDIS and we need to pick up Twelve’s successor. Somehow, the TARDIS couldn’t pick her up, but it could at least land in her general vicinity.”

“Her?!” wailed Six. “Are you telling me I become a woman?!”

“What difference does your physical makeup matter?!” I responded. “She’s still the Doctor!”

“Probably not as charismatic as me,” scoffed Four.

“Oh, for goodness sakes!” I snapped. “You lot sound like Internet trolls right now! Come on! Those that have them! Screwdrivers out!” Three, Four, and Eight to Eleven whipped out their sonic screwdrivers while Twelve pulled out sunglasses. He tossed me his TARDIS-like screwdriver.

“I have a feeling you’ve always wanted to swish about with a Sonic Screwdriver,” he explained.

“What are you doing with those wands?” asked One.

“They’re Sonic Screwdrivers,” explained Nine.

“Sir, where’s yours?” asked Three to Twelve.

“Right here,” explained Twelve as he pointed to the sunglasses.

“...Sonic Sunglasses?” asked Nine.

“...Okay, why?” asked Ten.

“I think they’re cool!” replied Eleven with a grin.

“Will you stop using that word?!” snapped Twelve.

“Oh, for heaven’s sakes, let’s just get on with it!” snapped One. We all exited the TARDIS to see that our surroundings were coral-like.

“Well, if this isn’t a Zygon ship,” muttered Five, “then I didn’t beat Sir Francis Drake in cricket.”

“You brought cricket into that time?” I asked. My screwdriver then picked up a double pulse. “Gentlemen, around that corner!” I whispered.

“Not yet!” whispered W. Doctor. “Zygons too!”

“I have an idea,” whispered Twelve. “Adjust the frequency settings to 0.3794-Z. It should fool a Zygon’s eyes into thinking we’re Zygons.” We all did so and simply waltzed right in. The Zygons paid us no mind as we saw the current Doctor strapped to a table and a Zygon holding some instrument to her head.

“Identity confirmed,” reported the Zygon to his superior. “It IS the Doctor!”

“So, Doctor,” snarled the warrior-engineer, an aggressive chap, “what’s you game here? Do you seriously expect me to believe that Vortech is real?”

“That WAS the plan,” confirmed Thirteen. “Look, Zorkoth, Vortech will...!”

“Vortech is nothing more than something I told my hatchlings to scare them into behaving!” snarled the Zygon. “Now, if you will not return my ship’s power core, I will most certainly...” he was interrupted by the emergency lights shutting off. “WHAT NOW?!” he roared. I quietly congratulated Three for fiddling with emergency power. “Find the malfunction!” Zorkoth ordered his troops. The Zygons then left the room, allowing us to cancel our disguises and free Thirteen.

“Thanks for the helping hand, gentlemen,” thanked Thirteen. She then realized who her rescuers were. “Oh, good heavens,” she sighed. “I was only expecting Eyebrows over there!”

“We can discuss that later, Doctor!” I yelped as a Zygon alerted his crewmates to a prisoner escaping and intruders on board.

“RUN!” shouted Nine. We all made a mad dash for the TARDIS and entered it. The console room had changed while we were gone, looking exactly as Joshua described it.

“I see you’ve redecorated,” observed Two. “I don’t like it.” Thirteen had gotten the TARDIS to take off, then tried to pull her hand away from the console only for it to be pulled back. She rolled her eyes, then buzzed her silver sonic screwdriver on whatever glue was used so it would dehydrate.

“That Zygon webbing gets everywhere!” she griped.

“Zygons make webbing?” I asked myself as the Doctors had a telepathic conference to catch each other up.


	75. Chapter 75

Dad and I landed in Springfield as arranged. A parade was going through, evidently one of the current president we, thankfully, missed. I was sure Dad was about to throw away his career and assassinate him, even though it wasn’t the one from OUR universe. While I can’t say I’M a big fan of him, I’ve found other methods of resisting him. In any case, we found Homer chasing Bart with Krusty right after him. “Dad, please tell me you have a plan!” I whispered.

“Oh, I may have one!” Dad chuckled as he brought out beer and doughnuts.

“Ah, a lure!” I guessed. Homer stopped and sniffed. He then followed the smell and saw us.

“Mr. Simpson, we require your help,” Dad reported.

“Oh god! Not more aliens!” yelped Homer.

“No, not aliens,” I assured him, “but we’re fighting a creature that wants to rule your world. He wants to do the standard stuff, enslave your women, eat your dogs, ruin life as we know it.”

“What can I do?” asked Homer, not interested. I was trying to come up with an answer.

“This guy also wants to keep all the beer and doughnuts to himself,” replied Dad. That got Homer’s attention.

“Like I said!” growled Homer. “What can I do to help?!”

“Follow us,” replied Dad. “We’ll fill you in.”

* * *

I had made it to Sensei Wu’s dojo and entered to see the Ninjago team training with Wu. I politely cleared my throat and got their attention. “Pardon me for the interruption,” I said, “but I have grave news.”

“You are one of the competitors that interrupted Chen’s tournament,” observed Sensei Wu.

“Correct,” I confirmed. “I am Hiroki and I need your help. The creature that was the reason for my being in that tournament, he’s about to unleash his masterplan to cover all universes in darkness.”

“That sounds bad, Sensei,” gulped the Red Ninja, Kai.

“What’s our move here?” asked Cole, the Black Ninja.

“It seems we have no choice,” replied Sensei Wu. He turned to me. “We shall join you.”

“Excellent!” I cheered. “This way!”

* * *

I was once enemies with Dorothy and now? Here I am, getting her to Vorton. Of course, our meeting went as well as you expected. “You again?!” yelped the little brat. The Cowardly Lion was hiding behind her.

“Me again,” I grumbled.

“What are YOU doing here?” asked the Tin Man.

“Look, I’m not here to cause trouble, not this time,” I replied.

“What exactly ARE you here to do?” asked the Scarecrow.

“She HAS to be lying!” argued Dorothy. Toto was barking at me.

“With Vortech attacking? I have no reason to lie,” I countered.

“Vortech?” asked Dorothy. “You’re not working with him?”

“He intends to cause all realities to collapse,” I replied. “I need something to rule. Right now, I...oh grief...I need your help!”

“W-w-what’s in it for us?” stammered the Cowardly Lion.

“Well, what do you lot want?” I asked.

“I want a brain!” said the Scarecrow.

“I need a heart,” responded the Tin Man.

“I-I-I’d like s-some courage!” gulped the Cowardly Lion.

“I just want to go back to Kansas,” replied Dorothy.

“I think, with Glinda, I can help you on all counts,” I said. “Help me beat Vortech, and your hearts’ desires are fulfilled.” They took some time to consider.

“All right,” affirmed Dorothy, “we’ll help. But, no tricks now!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, my pretty,” I said.

* * *

I was back at the gates of Jurassic World, finding Owen Grady and an Asset Containment Unit Trooper arguing. “Oh, Sure. You get the tranq rifle and I'm stuck with that stun rod. That's fair,” griped the ACU Trooper.

“You snooze, you lose!” laughed Owen.

“Gentlemen,” I called. The two looked towards me. “Forgive the intrusion, but I need your help. You recall the last mess in this park? The one with Heather and the flood?”

“I remember,” replied Owen. “Weren’t you there?”

“I was,” I confirmed. “I’m here to tell you that the person behind this mess is making his move.”

“All right,” said the ACU Trooper, “who needs poking with a stun rod?” He picked up said tool as Owen unsheathed his knife.

“Well, that was easier than I expected,” I remarked. “Come with me, please.”

* * *

I had arrived at the Lion Temple where Laval, Cragger, and Eris were chatting with each other until they saw me. “Tonje!” called Laval.

“Greetings, everyone!” I said as I was hugged on all sides.

“What brings you back to Chima?” asked Cragger.

“I need your help,” I replied. “Vortech is making his move!”

“That’s not good,” gulped Eris. “How can we help?”

“We’re gathering on Vorton,” I answered. “We’ll discuss the plan there.

* * *

While everyone had gone off, I, Irina, had reminded Megumi about our deal with Deadpool. She remembered and Rusty sent me to his apartment door. I knocked and Deadpool, in only his underpants and mask, leveled a gun at me. “You better not be selling bibles!” he snapped. “Because I don’t like books!”

“Deadpool, I’m here to give a message,” I told the Merc with a Mouth.

“Anything to do with Jesus?” he snapped. “Because I already told you...”

“More like Vortech making his move,” I replied. He then lowered the gun and sighed.

“He HAD to do it when it was a ‘No Pants for Wade’ day!” he griped. “I’ll be right out. This dive’s not looking good for company.” He shut the door and went to get changed. I looked at my watch a few times before he came out, fully suited up. “All right, off to Vorton!” he cheered as he did a ridiculous Power Rangers like pose.

* * *

I arrived back in Cloud Cuckoo Land and found Benny, Emmett, and Unikitty having another dance-off. I joined in and got cheers. “Wyldstyle’s back!” called Unikitty.

“Welcome back, Lucy!” cheered Emmett.

“Lucy? Who’s Lucy?” asked Benny.

“Guys, I need your help,” I said. I gave a cliff notes version of my adventures. “So, I need your help.”

“I think we can do a little more world-saving,” replied Emmett.

“So, no leaving us behind this time?” snarled Unikitty, her colors briefly going fiery.

“Not this time,” I replied.

“Mind if I help?” asked an Irish voice. Bad Cop then came up to us. “I recently passed my Master Builder’s exam,” he explained. “Is there any chance I can help?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way!” I cheered.

* * *

“Any second now,” mumbled Master Gamgee as I approached. “Yep, any second now.”

“How about now?” I asked as I revealed myself to the Fellowship.

“Le abdollen,” (You’re late) joked Legolas.

“You grey rascal!” called Gimli. “A fine bit of worry you put us through and then you stroll in as if nothing has happened!”

“Where’s Frodo?” asked Pippin.

“He’s safe,” I replied, “but now our quest leads us beyond Middle-Earth, beyond any land known in this world.”

“The Ring?” asked Boromir.

“Under guard of the Enemy,” I replied, “but not enough to sway us. We have a new enemy, Lord Vortech, the one who has brought Sauron down to lesser levels.”

“If he can bring Sauron down,” guessed Aragorn, “he will surely target us.”

“Exactly,” I confirmed, “which is why I need you to come with me.”

* * *

I had arrived at the arcade’s basement to see Jake playing a game. I stepped down the stairs and witnessed him use up his last life. “Man, that was fun,” he said.

“Mind if I take a crack at it?” I asked. He whirled around to see me.

“Sure!” he said. He was playing _Defender_. I gave it my best shot but didn’t get the high score. Jake whistled. “That’s a lot better than my first time around,” he said. “Good work.”

“Grazie,” I thanked him. “However, this isn’t a social call. My friends and I, we need your assistance. Everything, everywhere, is at risk.”

“Final boss making his move?” asked Jake.

“Bingo,” I confirmed.

“One minute, I learned a new power to allow us to get help,” replied Jake. He then opened a purple pixel portal to let the rocket from _Defender_ out. “We’re fighting a new boss monster,” Jake said to the rocket. “Wanna join?” The rocket did a flip. “All right!” cheered Jake. He turned to me. “That’s his way of saying ‘yes’,” he explained.

“Molto bene,” (Very well) I said.

* * *

I arrived at the Watch Tower, the Titans and other League members, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Superman, Aquaman, and the Flash, were already there, as well as the guy who raised me! “Alfred, what are you doing here?!” I yelped.

“It was Mr. Kent’s idea that I be informed of your battles with that brute, Vortech,” explained Alfred. “I do apologize if I have intruded into any of your brooding areas.”

“Sarcasm as usual?” I quizzed.

“Mild teasing, at best,” elaborated Alfred. “I’m being unusually chatty as I have not seen you in some time and have been fraught with worry.”

“You have an honorable father-figure,” commented Wonder Woman.

“I hope I make it obvious that I value him and his advice,” I remark.

“Every day, Master Bruce,” assured Alfred. “You don’t mind if I join you as part of the support staff on this venture?”

“Vorton would actually be the safest place for you right now,” I said. “Vortech’s making his move.”

“Then, by Hera, let us end his reign of terror!” cheered Wonder Woman.

* * *

I was in Hill Valley, 1985, when I saw the Time Machine arrive. An elder Doc and Marty stepped out of the DeLorean and looked around. “Man, I’m getting nostalgic!” remarked Marty.

“That Flux Capacitor should be around here somewhere!” called Doc, not paying attention to what Marty said.

“Excuse me!” I called. The two men looked at me. “Looking for a Flux Capacitor?”

“You know where one is?!” yelped Doc.

“Just follow me and I’ll tell you what’s going on along the way,” I responded.

“Doc, who is this guy?” asked Marty.

“Name’s Josh, Vortex Rider,” I explained. “Let me tell you two a tale.”

* * *

The Mystery Machine had broken down on the side of the road when I arrived. They hadn’t seen me before, so I had to be tactful. “Like, of all the times for us to break down!” wailed Shaggy. “Now the Flaming Scarecrow’s gonna hunt us down!”

“Flaming Scarecrow!” shuddered Scooby.

“There’s no such thing as a living scarecrow that can shoot fire from its head!” argued Velma.

“After all the things we’ve witnessed, you still wanna say that?!” countered Shaggy.

“Excuse me!” I called. Scooby leapt into Shaggy’s arms at the sound of my voice. “...Sorry,” I mumbled as everyone turned to me. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I need your help. See, I’m from a universe where your adventures are fiction and I’m a huge fan of yours. Regretfully, though, I’m not here for your autograph, I need your help to take down a man by the name of Vortech.”

“See?” Velma said to Shaggy. “This guy knows what monsters really are.”

“You’d think twice if you saw Vortech,” I replied. “In any event, I need allies. Would you like to come?”

“Uh uh!” grumbled Scooby.

“Come on, Scooby!” protested Daphne. “He needs our help!” Scooby still said no.

“Would you do it for a Scooby snack?” asked Velma. Scooby was tempted, but still said no.

“Two Scooby snacks?” asked Fred. Tempted a little further, but still no.

“Three Scooby snacks?” I asked. That did it.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” responded Scooby.

“Excellent! Follow me!” I called.

* * *

Of all the places I had to land in, why was it GLaDOS’ chamber?! “You came back,” said the aforementioned a.i, now back in her usual state. “Have you missed me?”

“There’s no easy way to say it,” I said. “My friends and I...we need your help.”

“Help?” asked GLaDOS. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Tell it to my morality core.” She indicated a hole in the wall that held a core with a red eye. “Oh, that’s right, it was removed and replaced with an amorality core instead, which will make what I am about to do to you so much easier.” She summoned turrets and they targeted me! I ducked and weaved around the bullets all the way to the amorality core, replacing it with a core with a purple eye.

“I guess I’ll be seeing a nicer side of you from now on!” I cheered.

“And that is because you are a fool,” snarled GLaDOS. “A fire obsessed, moronic fool with stupid hair.”

“What?!” I said. “HEY!”

“The morality core merely restrains my physical actions,” explained GLaDOS, “not my thoughts. Take it out. It’s unbearable.”

“Only if you help me and my friends,” I snarled.

“...Very well,” grumbled GLaDOS.

* * *

I had arrived at Godzilla’s usual hangout, now that he was a Kaiju-man. He blinked when he saw me. “What are you doing back here?” he asked.

“Trouble’s after us,” I explained. “You remember Heather?”

“What about her?” asked the Monster King.

“The guy who gave her the knowledge to travel dimensions,” I elaborated, “is after us. He’s probably going to be a giant. Wanna bring a Kaiju Riser and help me fight him?”

“I’m wearing my Kaiju Riser right now,” explained Godzilla as he showed me his watch. “Fill me in.”

“Rusty, I need a ride back,” I said into the comms. “I have Godzilla with me.”

“Excellent!” cheered Rusty on the other end. “The others are successful in their missions. We’re ready and waiting!” The rift opened for us and we stepped through to see Vorton packed with people and machines.

“Minna-san,” I announced, “here’s what’s going on.”


	76. Chapter 76

“Okay, where’s this a.i you need repairing?” asked Twelve once we finished our story.

“Here,” replied GLaDOS. “I have a morality core that needs uninstalling.”

“Nice try,” commented Thirteen.

“He’s over here,” explained Lukas as he and Sento wheeled X-PO’s body in on a stretcher. “Can you help us fix him?”

“No problem,” replied Ten. “K-9 used to do this all the time.”

* * *

X-PO’s repairs were taking a while. The Special Weapons Dalek, Ab, was guarding the door, moving his gun back and forth to ward us off. “What’s the deal with that Dalek?” I muttered.

“It is a Special Weapons Dalek,” said Tetley the Dalek as he served tea. I accepted a cup.

“You seem to get twitchy whenever you look at Ab,” I observed.

“All Daleks do,” explained Rusty as she approached us. “Special Weapons Daleks are usually categorized as insane, especially by those that created them. I was one such Dalek, during the Dalek Civil War, between the Renegades and the Davros loyal Imperials.”

“The Daleks had a civil war?” I asked.

“And guess what it was about?” quizzed Rusty.

“Genetics?” I guessed.

“Exactly,” confirmed Rusty. “Both factions hated each other’s chromosomes. I was one of the developers of the Special Weapons Dalek in the Imperial Faction. Davros himself decreed its creation. Only Daleks in the Scientific Division were aware of its development. It was designed to have only one function: extermination.”

“Hence, why it has no plunger arm,” I guessed.

“Right again,” confirmed Rusty. “Its first act of destruction was the annihilation of the original Renegade Faction, those that didn’t escape Skaro. It destroyed to order, but...”

“...But?” I invited.

“But,” continued Rusty, “as it fired, the first backwash of radiation ravaged its body and mind. Every time it’s fought, its chromosomes alter. It became, no, it IS twisted and insane!”

“Your experiments,” argued Tetley, “were successful. It was with the aid of the Special Weapons Dalek that the Renegade Emperor and his retinue were destroyed in their control room. It has served in all crucial campaigns: _Pa Jass-Gutrik_ , the war of vengeance against the Movellans; _Pa Jaski-Thal_ , the liquidation war against the Thals; and _Pa Jass-Vortan_ , the time campaign, the war to end all wars.”

“Yes, and,” countered Rusty, “each time, it has become more uncontrollable. We of that original Scientific Division simply dubbed it the Abomination, hence why it’s called Ab.”

“I am aware of that designation,” replied Ab as his gun pointed at Rusty.

“Point it elsewhere,” I commanded. “I’m not having another Dalek Civil War. We have bigger problems than that.”

“I obey,” responded Ab. Rusty released a sigh of relief. Just then, a voice came into our ears that filled our hearts with joy! It was X-PO’s voice!

“Awesome! Well done!” called X-PO from the room. He and his repair crew joined us and I gave him a huge hug.

“Easy on the shell!” warned the Doctor. “He’s not as able to handle stress as he once was!” I released him and contented myself with some tea. Batman had coffee and dunked a doughnut in it.

“GLaDOS,” he rasped, “have you figured out a safe way to get us back to Foundation Prime?”

“Yes,” replied GLaDOS. “Do not concern yourself. There is zero chance of my being harmed.”

“What does it matter?” asked Gandalf. “Lord Vortech controls the very fabric of all worlds! He’s invulnerable!”

“What if he wasn’t IN a world?” I asked. “Remember when he trapped us?”

“Oh, what’s good for the goose,” replied Seven, “is good for the schoolboy, eh?”

“Gander,” corrected Death. “And it could work.”

“Hold on a sec,” interrupted X-PO, “you’re talking about trapping Lord Vortech in a rift loop?”

“It’d have to be flawless though,” remarked Twelve. “Not like that shoddy one I rescued you lot from.”

“Can you do it?” I asked.

“I’m the Doctor!” replied Thirteen. “And you’ve got a lot of me and a brilliant technical staff. We might be able to.”

“Was it four or five sugars, Doctor?” asked Tetley as he brought more tea.

“I recommend we stop shillyshallying,” remarked One, “and get on with the calculations.”

“Okay, we’ll keep Vortech busy,” I said. “Riders, those that have them, final form time. We’re gonna need all the power we can muster.” Everyone took out their respective transformation trinkets while Hongo struck his pose.

“Rider...” he began.

“Henshin!” we all finished.

“A-MA-ZON!” called Daisuke as he became Amazon.

“Charge Up!” announced Stronger. The S on his chest spun and he gained silver trim. Kabuto then grabbed the Hyper Zecter out of thin air again

“Hyper cast off!” he called

“Hyper cast off!” called the Zecter. The horn got bigger and his armor got bulkier. “Change Hyper Beetle!” called the Zecter.

“Climax Form!” called Den-O’s phone as he attached it and the Imagin piled on. Kiva inserted another whistle, fuestle, I mean, and summoned a dragon that could fit on his forearm.

“Tension Fortissimo!” called the dragon as it broke the chains on Kiva’s shoulders and leg, allowing a cape to unfurl, his armor became gold, his eyes went red, and a small crown appeared between the eyes. “Henshin!” called the dragon as it attached itself to Kiva’s left forearm.

“Kamen Ride: Decade!” called the Decadriver. Once he was ready, Decade took out a phone and slid a card into it, touching it nine times.

“Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Faiz, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O, Kiva!” called the phone. Decade then pressed a button. “Final Kamen Ride: Decade!” He then gained pink eyes and a card on his head while a sash of all final forms lined his shoulders. He placed the pink part onto his right hip and put the phone into the pink part’s usual place

“XTREME!” called the W Driver once it absorbed Phillip and opened up. W became CycloneJoker Xtreme again. OOO used the purple medals and scanned them.

“PTERA! TRICERA! TYRANNO! Putotyrannosaurus!” called the OOO Driver as he utilized the Putotyra Combo. Fourze inserted a new switch where the rocket switch would be.

“Cosmic!” announced the Fourze Driver. He pulled down on the switch’s cover and pressed the button. “Cosmic on!” announced the belt. Fourze’s suit went sky-blue as the numbers of all the Astro-switches appeared on his chest.

“INFINITY, PLEASE!” shouted the WizarDriver. “HI-SUI-FU-DO, BOU-ZABA-BYU-DOGON!” Wizard’s armor was more diamond like.

“Fruit basket!” announced Gaim’s Sengoku Driver. All metal fruits appeared and merged with him as he inserted it into his Lockseed. “Lock open! Kiwami (Extreme) Arms! Dai Dai Dai Dai Shogun!” (Mighty Warlord). Gaim looked more like a silver clad Shogun.

“Drive! Type: Tridoron!” announced the Drive Driver. Drive’s new armor looked more like his car.

“Cho Kaigan: Mugen!” (Infinity) announced the Ghost Driver. Angelic rock music played as it chanted. “Keep Going! Go, Go, Go! Go, Go, Go! Go, Go, Go! Gotta Ghost!" His suit was white with angled shoulder pads and a rainbow horn.

“Hyper Muteki!” (Muteki means Invincible) announced Emu’s Gashat. He then attached it to the side of the Gashat already in his belt. “Docking!” announced the belt. He then pressed the button on top. “Bakkān! (Open!) Muteki! Kagayake! Ryuusei no Gotoku! Ougon no Saikyou Gamer! (Shine bright! Like a true shooting star! The ultimate gamer, clad in gold!) Hyper Muteki Ex-Aid!” His form was similar to mine, but he was all gold and had long hair.

“GACHĀN! Mazaru Up! (Mix it up!)” called Parado’s new Gamer Driver as he opened it. “Akai kobushi tsuyosa! Aoi Puzzle rensa! Aka to ao no kousa! (Red fist strength! Blu puzzle chain! Red and blue crossing!) Perfect Knock Out!" Para-DX was now a mix of red and blue with spiky hair.

“GACHĀN! LEVEL UP!” called Brave’s Gamer Driver as he inserted Taddle Legacy. The jingle sounded a lot like Taddle Quest. “Taddle Rekishi! Mezameru Kishi! (Embrace the legacy! Awaken your chivalry!) Taddle Legacy!”

“Great! All yeah!” said Build’s new yellow and blue, two slot occupying Fullbottle. Build put it into the belt.

“Genius!” it announced. Build then turned the crank and it looped on “Yeah! Yeah!” before asking “ARE YOU READY?!”

“Build up!” ordered Build. His armor was now white as red shaded Fullbottles lined his left eye, his right arm, and his left leg, while blue shaded Fullbottles line the remaining extremities.

“Kanzen Muketsu no Bottle Yarō!” (The Completely Flawless Bottle Guy!) called the belt. “Build Genius! Sugei! Monosugei!” (Amazing! Simply amazing!)

“Dai Super Charge!” My armor bulked and flew off, revealing Kamen Rider Vortex. “Are we ready?!” I called. Everyone cheered. “GLaDOS, the safe path, if you please.” GLaDOS beamed the information into my helmet. “Minna, let’s go! CHARGE!” I opened a path and led us all down the path GLaDOS gave us.


	77. Chapter 77

“Vortex!” called Wyldstyle as we flew through the rift. “Do you have a plan for keeping Vortech occupied when we get to Foundation Prime?!”

“As a matter of fact, I do!” I replied.

“How crazy is it?!” quizzed Apocalypse.

“Some of us will think ‘Oh God, oh God, we’re gonna die’!” I responded.

“Yeah, I figured your plan would elicit that response!” called Elphaba.

“Then, it’s such a pity,” called a voice that we all dreaded, “that you’ll never get to put it into action!”

“Hello?” asked GLaDOS over our comms. “I have news which may be upsetting. I am detecting a...”

“Lord Vortech!” interrupted Batman as he pointed ahead of us. Vortech was massive!

“I thought I’d save you the trouble,” quipped Vortech, “and come to defeat you here! I don’t want the mess in my new world! How are you enjoying the rift so far?!”

“I’m very tired of being in freefall!” replied Gandalf.

“Guys, new plan!” I called. I then increased my diving speed, going straight for an area on Vortech’s armor. I had noticed that it held dimensional maelstroms in three different areas to power it. The others caught on and followed me. We soon landed on the armor covering Vortech’s right shoulder.

“Get off me!” protested Vortech. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“This armor stabilizes you as you travel the rift, right?!” I called. “What happens if it’s damaged?!”

“I see!” replied Wyldstyle. “If we can overload the maelstrom, it might damage Vortech!”

“Not as long as I live!” boomed Vortech as Vortexons appeared.

“Wyldstyle, you should really learn to zip it sometimes!” I called.

“Whoops!” said Wyldstyle.

“All right, what’s past is past,” I replied. “Heavy hitters, with me! Tech savvies, overload the maelstrom!” All tech related fighters got to work sabotaging the machinery holding the maelstrom while the rest of us kept the Vortexons off their backs.

“Guys, are you any closer?!” called Cole.

“We’re getting there, just give us a minute!” called Apocalypse.

“I don’t think we HAVE a minute!” I replied.

“Oh, for the love of...GET OUT OF THE WAY!” roared War. She then brought her sword down onto the machine. It sparked and the maelstrom exploded, damaging Vortech and flinging us off in the process.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” roared Vortech. “YOU LITTLE PESTS!”

“Just as predicted,” muttered Batman. The Defender rocket then zoomed by and fired.

“All that fuss to bring a gnat in to help you?!” taunted Vortech. “Pathetic!”

“I don’t know,” I replied as we landed on Vortech’s left shoulder, “it did its job distracting you!”

“Little ants,” snarled Vortech, “I’m going to squash you!” He summoned more Vortexons. The techies got to work as the rest of us held the enemy off.

“Wait, HERE’S what we did wrong!” called Build as he connected a wire. Just then, the maelstrom started destabilizing.

“Here we go again!” I called. We jumped off as the maelstrom exploded and sent Vortech into pain.

“ARGH! You’re really getting on my nerves now!” he roared.

“You wait until we get started!” I called. “We have more help than you could ever muster!

“Really?” taunted Vortech. “You could summon every being alive to help you, it still won’t result in your victory!”

“Guys, there’s one last maelstrom to deal with!” called Death. “Right on his belt buckle!”

“Oh, grief!” I moaned. “Oh well, at least it’s not BELOW the belt! DIVE!” We dove and landed on the belt buckle.

“I grow tired of your antics!” boomed Vortech as he summoned more Vortexons.

“Keep going, guys!” I encouraged as we heavy hitters kept the enemy off the techies. Just then, our job got harder! Someone in a luchador’s outfit arrived and locked onto Batman.

“Batman,” he announced, “I will break you!”

“Bane!” snarled Batman. Bane then grew massive muscles and started swinging!

“I’m going to enjoy hearing your bones shatter!” promised Bane. He then saw the tech guys messing with the maelstrom. “Victory won’t come for you!” he roared.

“Get away!” I called. The techs got away from Bane’s charge. He collided with the machine but didn’t damage it. Just then, I noticed something around his ears. “Nice earrings!” I called.

“Earrings?!” snarled Bane. “Do I look like a girl to you?!”

“Wow, sexist much?” I asked. He then felt around his head and realized that his new earrings were grenades with no pins! They exploded, causing a massive headache for him and destroying the machine. “Your doing, Deadpool?” I asked.

“They looked better on him than me!” called Deadpool.

“Enough!” called Vortech as he flung us off! Just then, a familiar blue box arrived! One and Thirteen poked their heads out.

“Vortech, old boy!” called One. “It looks like you’re stuck!”

“How about we give you a push!” called Thirteen. As they went back inside the TARDIS, it rammed into Vortech, causing an exit to open behind him.

* * *

That exit led to Vortech’s temple on Foundation Prime. We all landed roughly while Vortech towered over us. “Er, Godzilla,” I gulped, “I think NOW’S a good time to get big again!”

“Got it!” confirmed Godzilla.

“Not this time!” boomed Vortech as he fired a beam at Godzilla’s Kaiju-riser.

“NO!” roared Godzilla. The Kaiju-riser was destroyed.

“Welcome to the end of chaos,” boasted Vortech, “and the beginning of perfection!” He then started altering the temple until it resembled a fortress!

“Oh no!” I breathed.

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?” asked Vortech. “One single dimension with one single ruler! Kneel to me and I may have mercy on you!”

“Lord Vortech can NOT get away with this!” snarled Wyldstyle.

“I already have!” boasted Vortech. “Who do you gnats think you are?!” That was it! One last roll call for this adventure!

“Kamen Rider Outback!” announced Lord Joshua Williams. “Better watch your back, mate!”

“Kamen Rider Claw!” called Lady Sheela Kumar. “My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing!” resolved Lady Tonje Haugen. “I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt!” called Lady Tanisha Akintola. “I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash!” announced Lady Livia Acqua. “A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb!” shouted Lady Irina Kuznetsov. “Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop!” called her brother, Lord Mikhail Kuznetsov. “My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku!” called my brother, Prince Hiroki Hishikawa. “You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Vortex!” I, Queen Megumi Hishikawa, declared. “Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard!” thundered my boyfriend, Sir Richard Saunders. “None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché!” called his sister, Dame Emily Saunders. “En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì!” announced Lord Haitao Lin. “Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch!” boasted Duke Emmanuel Babineaux. “My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer!” called Duke Lukas Ackermann. “Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker!” announced Lady Xiomara Elizondo. “It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle!” called Lord Michael Archer. “For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“Kamen Rider Apocalypse!” announced Dame Lacey Thanatos. “Your world shall end!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey!” announced Gandalf. “Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle!” called Lucy, Wyldstyle, Master Builder. “Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman!” called Bruce Thomas Wayne. “The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors!” announced Takeshi Hongo, Kamen Rider Ichigō, the first Kamen Rider. “I am Kamen Rider!”

“No, you’re all DEAD!” roared Vortech as he summoned Vortexons.

“CHARGE!” I shouted. Boy, did the battle begin! We clashed with the Vortexons as Sh’Kar and her crew were teleported onto the _Enterprise_. They got to work distracting Lord Vortech while Batman found something about the gravity in a certain corner. There was a pile of junk on the wall. He tried to pull it down, but it didn’t budge. He pushed it slightly upwards and it moved easily.

“Vortex!” he called to me. “I need your help!”

“What do you need?!” I asked. He didn’t explain.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Yellow, on the floor! Cyan, on the wall perpendicular to yellow! Magenta, on the ceiling! Shift! Cyan! Vortex!” I appeared on the wall, walking 90⁰ from the rest of my friends. I shoved the junk up to the ceiling and the gravity it was generating pulled the pile onto it. “Shift! Magenta! Vortex!” I started walking on the ceiling and pushed the junk to the edge where Batman could safely pull it down. “Shift! Yellow! Vortex!” I arrived back on the floor and changed steels.

“Wyldstyle steel!” called Vortoranii as my vision became a Master Builder’s vision. I built a transmitter that beamed unknown instructions to the Defender rocket. It then targeted the square and fired!

“LEAVE THE FOUNDATION OF ALL DIMENSIONS ALONE!” boomed Vortech. Part of the square turned to ash! “You dare try to ruin this dimension?! MY DIMENSION?!” Just then, the walls crumbled and the floor broke up, leaving only platforms leading to a higher platform.

“The Foundation is weakened, along with Lord Vortech!” called Gandalf.

“Excellent!” cheered Death.

“Ichigō, get up on the higher ledge!” I called. “I see a vent and its patch!”

“Understood!” called Ichigō. He jumped onto the ledge.

“What does a vent and patch have to do with stopping Vortech?!” yelped Nigō.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” announced Ichigō once he got onto the ledge. “Enlarge scale of Nigō!” Nigō then grew, startled at the sudden increase in altitude!

“What kind of toys have YOU acquired?!” he yelped.

“Could you apply the patch, please?!” snapped Ichigō. Nigō did so, then held up a dangling part. “Lessen scale of Deadpool!” announced Ichigō.

“All right, Mini-pool!” squeaked Deadpool as he shrunk. He crawled into the vent. As he did his business, I overheard Legolas and Gimli.

“Legolas! Two already!” called the Dwarf.

“I’m on seventeen!” replied Legolas. Gimli was momentarily stunned.

“I’ll have no pointy-ear outscoring me!” he bellowed. He went back to lopping legs off the Vortexons.

“I am everywhere!” boasted Vortech. “I am all powerful!” The area behind us opened and I felt a buzz.

“Locate Keystone, activate!” I called. “Initiate rift detection!” I found it in that area. “Identify source of rift!” The information was beamed into my head. “Locate help from D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0!” I announced. A Dalek then flew in. The shell looked...different. It was grey, with darker grey sensor globes on its skirt, antennae on each globe, spikes lining the inside of the plunger, a pupil in the blue light of its eyestalk, pyramidal speech indicators, and some sort of shield around its neck. It looked at us and was filled with its usual hate.

“Exterminate!” it squawked.

“Parlay!” I yelped.

“Parlay?” asked the Dalek. “I have no understanding of the word! It is not registered in my vocabulary bank!”

“I have a proposition for you!” I elaborated.

“Explain!” demanded the Dalek.

“Lord Vortech has begun his plan and is powered by Foundation Prime!” I said. “We need to bring him down so both sides can flourish!”

“That Foundation,” helped Gandalf, “is most definitely the key. The palace will be destroyed along with it.”

“You propose an alliance?” quizzed the Dalek.

“Wouldn’t it be a testament to Dalek strength and purity,” I asked, “if you helped a lower life-form beat a god-like creature?” The Dalek appeared to consider.

“...Request accepted!” it responded later. “The truce ends when Vortech is damaged!”

“Agreed,” I said. The Dalek then flew into the air to lock onto the square. It aimed its gunstick.

“Exterminate!” it shouted as it fired. The segment was destroyed and I decided now was a good time to send the Dalek back!

“Dismiss help!” I called. The Dalek was sucked into a rift and Vortech noticed. The area behind us crumbled away as we moved closer to Vortech. Wyldstyle took this opportunity to make a giant proton pack with a Chroma Lock design on it, a red circle, a purple left L-shape, and an orange right L-shape. “Okay, we have to search for the discs!” I suggested. “Find them!” We traveled across the room to find a gateway. The coordinates were set to Vorton! I made a quick call to GLaDOS to build something that can cause damage. We then fired up the gateway we had and GLaDOS poked her head out.

“It appears you need my help,” she said. “That is so unlike you. Now, hurry up and finish this!” She threw a rocket turret through the portal and closed it. I took command of it and fired it at the square. It was now one fourth of its original shape! Vortech struggled to keep himself up from the hammering the _Enterprise_ was giving him!

“Your disobedience only angers me further!” he threatened as he summoned more Vortexons. As we fought, the area containing his gateway fell apart and we continued our search for the Chroma discs. Wyldstyle found them buried under some rubble around the room.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” she announced. “Chroma Lock, reveal! Chroma! Red! Apocalypse! Chroma! Blue! Vortex! Chroma! Yellow! Batman!” We all jumped into our respective paint blobs, then Batman and I took our respective L-shapes while Apocalypse jumped first into the circle, then my position, and then Batman’s. The Proton pack then fired at the square, but it wasn’t enough power!

“You cannot prevent the inevitable!” laughed Vortech.

“Crap, we need to give it more power! More electricity!” I wailed.

“My turn!” called Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of lightning, Vortex and Apocalypse!” The electric aura surrounded us both and we looked at Gandalf in surprise. “It has been said by X-PO,” explained Gandalf, “that you two will beat him!” We got the hint, then fired streams of lightning at the proton pack, giving it the necessary power to fry the last remaining fragment of the square!

“NO!” wailed Vortech as the fortress fell apart. “YOU’VE UNDONE EVERYTHING! YOU’VE DESTROYED PERFECTION!”

“Your brand of perfection is only stagnation!” I thundered back in reply, dodging debris. “That’s what the Feudal Nerd Society was founded on! We know we can never achieve perfection, but we don’t care! You would make everything the same, but we know that diversity and mixing ideas make one truly strong!”

“Lord Vortech, last of the Vortonians,” affirmed Apocalypse, “you were so obsessed with perfection, you’ve blinded yourself to the chaos you and Shocker Rift have wrought! Now, look at yourself; all alone with no allies and no power!” As Vortech thrashed about, he fell into the white sea while the fortress split apart. We were rapidly losing stable ground! The _Enterprise_ dove and leveled itself.

“JUMP!” shouted Batman. He didn’t need to tell us twice. We jumped onto the _Enterprise_ ’s hull and it tried to get us out of here, but Vortech’s fist smashed its underside! We landed on a circular platform and saw Vortech, still giant, rise from the sea beneath us.

“I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!” he promised. “YOU WILL FEEL MY UNBRIDLED FURY!”

“Do you think we annoyed him?” gulped Wyldstyle.

“Perhaps, just a touch,” replied Gandalf.

“Then let’s make him madder!” snarled Godzilla.

“Now, how to begin?” wondered Vortech. “I will not be denied retribution!” He summoned Vortexons and fired eyebeams!

“Hey, that’s my thing!” snapped Superman. Vortech then opened a bunch of rifts and allowed junk to fall all around us! Wyldstyle found a way to make a giant slingshot with the junk and fired it at Vortech. Vortech stumbled but regained his balance. He then tried to tilt the platform to make us fall into the sea, so we held on for dear life! When it was clear he wasn’t getting the result he wanted, he leveled the platform again and tried again, Vortexons, eyebeams, and summoning junk. This time, the junk was fireworks, Gandalf’s specifically, so Gandalf lit them and they launched at Vortech! Vortech recovered from the hit and tilted the platform again. No dice, we weren’t gonna fall into the sea! The platform leveled and Vortech tried the same method one last time. What’s the definition of insanity again? The junk he summoned this time was a giant cannon that Batman charged up to full power. He fired and Vortech stumbled, losing his breath.

“I can...reassemble the Elements!” he gasped. “This isn’t defeat for me! This isn’t where it ends!” Unbeknownst to him, three portals had opened behind him.

“You’re right, Vortech,” confirmed Batman. “But, that is!” He drew Vortech’s attention to the portals.

“NO!” called Vortech as he was getting sucked in. “YOU CAN’T WIN!” He was then fully pulled in, but the power of the portals was too strong! It was sucking EVERYTHING in! The TARDIS then arrived and Eleven and Twelve opened the door.

“Come on!” called Twelve. “This place is for the Knacker’s yard!”

“Get in!” called Eleven. We all piled into the TARDIS and it quickly took off.

“All right,” said Thirteen as she, One, Four, Five, Six, and Eight worked the console, “we need to tie up that rift into a pretty, little bow so that Tall, Dark, and Shouty can’t get out and you lot,” she left the console to shove us all back to the door, “need to stand just there. Good. Don’t move!” She then handed us a small little silver cylinder with a red light on top. “Hold these,” she ordered us as she returned to the console.

“Is there anything we can do?” asked Death.

“I suppose,” replied Two, “you could yell.” He then opened the door behind us! We were sucked into the rift and yelled as Two suggested. W. Doctor poked his head out.

“Sorry,” he called, “but there’s a good chance we won’t be able to get out of here if this works!” He then pulled the phone out of the exterior and dialed. “Are you ready to go, X-PO?!” A rift then opened and X-PO’s voice drifted through.

“You know, for a Time Lord,” he sassed, “you really like to rush people! There, final calculations complete. Uploading now. Vortex Riders and friends, point the devices the Doctors gave you at Lord Vortech.” Vortech’s head arrived and we did as instructed.

“W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” he demanded.

“Giving you what you wanted, Vortech! Perfection!” I responded. “The perfect prison!” The devices made an energy cage.

“Argh!” snapped Thirteen’s voice. “It needs a push to get Vortech all good and trapped!”

“I have the perfect solution in mind!” I called. “Doctor Thirteen, come join us!” Thirteen was confused but took me up on the offer. “All right, Minna-san!” I called out. “One last kick for the road!” Everyone then got into kicking position and did a flying kick towards the energy cage. “RIDER ALL RIFT KICK!” I announced. We kicked hard and the energy cage surrounded Vortech. Thirteen went back into the TARDIS as multiple portals pulled the rest of us in. I had blacked out from the sudden pull, so I had no idea what would happen next. All I heard was Vortech’s final defiant roar.


	78. Finale

I awoke again in Vorton’s Med-bay. I ached all over and I was in my dress instead of my suit. My crown was on a table next to my bed. I slowly sat up, the aches giving my body grief. “Wh...what happened?” I mumbled.

“Well, that was a nasty fight you’ve had,” replied X-PO’s voice. He hovered over me and Emily sat next to me.

“Guys, what happened?” I asked weakly.

“Something very amazing!” chuckled Emily. An idea formed in my head.

“Emily-chan, are you saying...?!” I quizzed, a happy feeling forming in my chest.

“You guys did it!” responded X-PO. “Lord Vortech has been removed from our reality! Now, he’s some OTHER reality’s problem!”

“YATTA!” (general Japanese cry of triumph) I cheered before the aches made me fall back into the bed.

“Easy!” chuckled Emily. Batman, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, and Hongo came in.

“I take it you’ve heard the news,” guessed Hongo. I nodded with a big fat grin on my face.

“Trapped for the rest of time,” mused Batman, “with only himself for company.”

“A fitting end, for such a twisted mind,” said Gandalf.

“Ain’t that the truth!” agreed Wyldstyle. A horrible thought struck me.

“What about the Doctor?!” I yelped. “All of them? Are they okay?” Thirteen then strolled in.

“Yeah!” she said. “Me and the rest of my incarnations, we’ve been here for ages when you lot arrived. What took you so long?”

“I still can’t believe it!” I laughed. “We WON! Against all odds, WE WON! Please tell me someone’s planning a celebration!”

“We were waiting for your go-ahead to throw it!” replied Emily. “There’s just one last thing that needs to be done before we do any partying.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Everyone needs to heal up,” explained Emily. “I don’t want to deal with reopened wounds during the party.”

“And, guess what?” asked X-PO. He explained before I said anything. “We just got 70,000 studs richer, courtesy of After Academy. Now, we’re at 4,556,000 studs. Plenty to buy your own universe.”

“Sugoi!” (Feminine form of Sugei) I exclaimed.

“All right, everyone, out!” ordered Emily. “Megumi needs rest and she can’t get it with you guys hanging around!” She shooed everyone out of the room as I drifted off to sleep, wondering what the party will entail.

* * *

_“'ej HumtaH 'ej DechtaH 'Iw (And the blood was ankle deep)_

_'ej Doq SoDtaH ghoSpa' Sqral bIQtIq (And the River Skral ran crimson red)_

_'e' pa' jaj law' moch jaj puS (On the day above all days)_

_jaj qeylIS molar mIgh HoHchu'qu'” (When Kahless slew evil Molor dead!)_ That was the drinking song Sh’Kar taught War as the party went on when everyone healed up from the Vortech Wars. Both ladies gave deep, belly laughs before smashing their heads into one another.

“I should take a vacation on Qo'noS!” cheered a drunk War. “The warrior culture, the proud traditions, the weaponry, it roars of honor!” Sh’Kar roared her appreciation of the compliment. While that was going on, Mikhail, Legolas, and Gimli had tankards set in front of them.

“No pauses,” Boromir said as he laid out the rules, “no spills.”

“And no regurgitations!” called Gimli.

“It’s a drinking game?” quizzed Legolas.

“Last one standing wins!” confirmed Mikhail. The three then began downing their liquor. The contest went on for a bit. War and Sh’Kar joined in the audience, giving their roars of encouragement. Gimli let one off and...oh GOD! Dwarf farts are foul!

“It’s the Dwarves that go swimming with little, hairy women!” slurred Gimli. Mikhail said something in drunken Russian. Legolas, meanwhile, looked at his hands.

“I feel something,” he muttered, a slight slur in his voice. “A slight...tingling in my fingers! I think it’s affecting me!”

“Whaddid I ssay?!” slurred Gimli. “Heee can’ ‘old ‘is licker!” He then crossed his eyes and passed out.

“...And he killed forty three of the enemy forces,” mused Legolas.

“Game is not over!” roared Mikhail. “You are supposed to be Mirkwood Elf! Your wine is supposed to be strongest alcohol in Middle-Earth! Prove it!” Legolas shrugged as the game continued. Sadly, a Russian’s liver can’t keep up with an Elf’s. Mikhail was the second to pass out. Legolas steadied himself before responding.

“Game over,” he said. Merry and Pippin were dancing on the table, singing a song from their home.

_“Hey Ho to the bottle I go,_

_To heal my heart and drown my woe!_

_Rain may fall and wind may blow but there'll still be,_

_Many miles to go!_

_Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,_

_And the stream that falls from hill to plain!_

_Better than rain or rippling brook,_

_Is a mug of beer inside this Took!”_ We all cheered as Pippin finished. W. Doctor was regaling a crowd with one of the few funny stories about the Last Great Time War.

“I’m serious!” he said as his audience laughed. “The Daleks kept demanding where the Zonks were! They had no idea that it was Gallifreyan currency!”

“With a chameleon circuit laid into each Zonk!” laughed Nine. “It’s only legal tender on Gallifrey, everyone else throughout time and space calls it counterfeit money!” The audience laughed again. I spotted Batman with his cowl off, Lacey in her new dress, Death, Emily, and Lukas huddled in a corner, watching the party and sipping their drinks. I approached them.

“Is there room in the Introvert’s corner?” I asked.

“Plenty!” assured Emily. I joined them.

“Lukas, I didn’t see you in the drinking game,” I observed.

“Last drinking game I had was with Mikhail,” explained Lukas. “A German may love their beer, but our livers aren’t as powerful as a Russian’s.” Just then, I heard someone call “SPEECH!” The chant was taken up and everyone looked at me. I got up on the Gateway platform and called for quiet.

“Minna-san,” I began, “this was, without a doubt, the biggest adventure anyone has ever had in the multiverse.” That remark got a few nods. “Over the course of this adventure,” I continued, “we’ve had our share of tragedies, but also new beginnings.” Rusty and Elphaba raised their glasses as I said that. “This whole journey has proved one thing; the multiverse is perfect as is. We don’t need to collide all dimensions into one. It ruins the diversity of life and cultures. That’s what the Feudal Nerd Society was founded on and that is the message we shall continue to spread. With all the Foundation Elements returned to their proper dimensions, the multiverse shall stabilize and flourish. Let’s drink and honor those that have been damaged by Lord Vortech.” Everyone raised their glass and sipped. The party then went on.

* * *

A few nights later, after everyone got over their hangovers, I had assembled the original Feudal Nerd Society in my room. They found seats where they could and I revealed what I had realized. “Minna,” I murmured, “I just now understand what we need to do.”

“What’s that?” asked Hiroki.

“Guys...the threat is over,” I explained. “There’s no further need for us.” I looked at everyone’s faces to see them fall.

“...To quote from the Doctor,” whispered Michael, “I don’t want to go.”

“Harrowing though it was,” murmured Richard, “it was the most fun I’ve had. I liked seeing all those universes, all those realities. Why does it need to end?”

“This was an adventure,” whimpered Tanisha as tears started falling, “where nobody cared about our religious views, our sexual orientation, our political stances, none of that. Now, we have to go back to that!”

“I don’t like it any more than you guys do,” I sniffed, “but staying here is only running away from the problems our world has. That’s why, in two days’ time, we’re going to send everyone home and say goodbye.”

“It won’t be a permanent goodbye,” replied a voice. We jumped to see X-PO flying around.

“DON’T DO THAT!!” I shouted.

“Sorry,” apologized X-PO, “but who said it’s goodbye forever? Need I remind you that Hiro and Shocker Rift are still out there?” I then realized what he was saying.

“He’s going to continue to cause trouble for the multiverse!” I guessed.

“Bingo!” exclaimed X-PO. “So, why not buy that universe I’ve been hinting about and use it as your base of operations against him?”

“Perfect!” I cheered. As faces brightened, I turned to my friends. “Minna-san, looks like we don’t need to say goodbye, just ‘See you later’!”

“That’s much more pleasant!” praised Tonje.

“Well, if there’s nothing else,” stretched Richard, “I’m going back to bed. Good night, everyone!” Everyone one bid each other good night as we returned to our beds and went to sleep.

* * *

Next morning, I told our allies about what was going on and what will happen the next day. The Doctor seemed to like the idea.

“You lot deserve a universe of your own!” she cheered.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, if I may interrupt?” whispered Death. Everyone turned to her. “My friends, without your help,” continued Death, “my job would have been rendered moot. I was thinking of using this gift in the battle against Vortech, but Vader’s Star Destroyer and the _Enterprise_ made the ship redundant. So, I present you a gift for your personal use.” She snapped her fingers and a capsule appeared. It had weapons concealed on its surface. “Step inside,” invited Death. We all looked in to see it was...

“Dimensionally transcendental!” breathed Michael. Yes, it was bigger on the inside, like the TARDIS. It had three levels and consoles on each level.

“A spaceship?!” I yelped.

“Courtesy of the Apocalypse Riders and After Academy,” whispered Death. I then hugged her.

“Hold it!” burbled a voice. It was Sludgiona. “The Vortex Drivers, take them off!” I was surprised but motioned for everyone to obey. As we took off our belts, Vortoranii’s ghost flew out of my Supreme Vortex Driver.

“Well, it looks like my time has come,” she said. “For me, this IS goodbye. I must move on and rejoin the souls of my people.”

“Oh,” I murmured. Vortoranii then hugged me before fading completely. “Bye,” I sigh. Just then, two humanoids teleported in. Thirteen stepped back when they revealed themselves. It was a woman and a humanoid robot man in postman gear.

“Hello!” called the woman. “We’re from Kerb!am!”

“Delivery for the Vortex Riders,” said the robot.

“A Kerb!am man!” warned Thirteen.

“A what?” I asked.

“A Kerb!am man!” repeated the Doctor.

“You’re just making sounds now!” protested Michael.

“You must be the Doctor!” called the woman. “Thanks to you, Kandoka’s labor laws have changed. For every robot built, a human must be hired. Now, a delivery bot is paired with a human.”

“Now THAT’S a step forward!” cheered Thirteen. I accepted the package from the robot.

“Delivery fulfilled,” announced the bot.

“All right, just need you to sign this,” mused the woman as she drew out a receipt. I looked over the receipt to see that Sludgiona had already paid for it, so I signed it. “Thank you!” said the woman.

“And remember,” began the robot.

“If you want it, Kerb!am it!” said the two as they teleported out, leaving the Kerb!am logo. Just then, our Vortex Drivers vanished.

“I’ve vaporized the belts,” explained Sludgiona. “You can’t use them anymore.”

“Just a minute!” I protested. “We’ve proven ourselves worthy!”

“You don’t understand,” assured Sludgiona, “you ARE worthy, but those now inferior versions of my belt are no longer worthy of you.”

“I don’t...!” I began before Sludgiona interrupted.

“Oh, for the love of...” she snarled. “open the Kerb!am delivery!” I was even more confused now but obeyed and saw...sixteen copies of the belt 70-year-old me wore!

“New Vortex Drivers?!” I exclaimed.

“THE Vortex Drivers,” elaborated Sludgiona. “What you wore on this journey were prototypes. So, none of that Proto-supreme or Supreme Vortex Driver nonsense. All Super and Dai Super Charge sequences are achieved with just that.”

“Thank you so much!” I praised. We tried out the new belts. Once the belt strap formed around our waists, they spoke.

“Vortex Driver!” they said.

“They’re gonna do that every time you put them on,” explained Sludgiona. “Your i.d tags will work better with the new belts.”

“Guys, we can now continue the fight!” I said.

* * *

The day had come. It was time to go home. Everyone lined up as X-PO operated the Gateway, figuring out how to send more than seven people home. Elphaba and her group were first. “Well, guys,” she said, “it was nice knowing you, even if our first meeting was bad.”

“Goodbye, Elphaba!” I called. “And good luck being the Good Witch the West deserves!” Everyone then went through the portal. Next was Homer. “Goodbye, Mr. Simpson,” I said. “Never stop what you’re doing now. You seem to be succeeding right now.”

“Bye!” said Homer as he went into the portal.

“That was quick,” I muttered. Next was the Ninjago team. “It’s been an honor having you with us.”

“The pleasure was all ours,” replied Sensei Wu as we both bowed to each other. “May we see each other again.”

“I’d like that,” I responded. The ninjas then got onto the platform. Lloyd then gave the usual go ahead.

“Ninja, GO!” he shouted. The ninjas and their sensei spun until they became tornados that matched their outfits and went through the portal. Next up was all the Doctors.

“Doctor, it was great to meet you,” I told them, “ALL of you.”

“Goodbye, my dear,” replied One. He gave me a firm handshake before stepping into the TARDIS.

“It’s been fun, everyone,” said Two, “but it’s time to go. Goodbye. And, you, Ma’am,” he told Thirteen, “it’s good to know my future is in good hands.” He was about to step into the TARDIS but turned to Three before he did so. “Fancy-pants!” he called.

“Scarecrow!” responded Three. Two went in and Three turned to us. “Goodbye, everyone,” he told us before he followed Two. Four held out his bag.

“Jelly baby?” he asked. I never tried one, so I accepted.

“Careful, they’re REALLY sweet!” warned Michael. I then took a tentative bite and felt the sugar rush through my body.

“You weren’t kidding!” I yelped. “Still, a good sweet! Goodbye, Doctor.”

“Goodbye, my dears!” he called as he entered the TARDIS. Five was next.

“Well, it’s been fun,” he said, “but I must go now. Things to do, and all that. Goodbye.” He then entered the TARDIS.

“I must say,” mused Six before he followed Five, “I don’t know what you would have done without me! Goodbye!” He went in before we could protest.

“As they say,” called Seven, “time and tide melts the snowman!”

“Waits for no man!” Michael and I corrected.

“Who’s waiting?” asked Seven as he went in.

“Much as I disagree with my fifth incarnation’s idea of wearing a vegetable,” muttered Eight, “it IS time to go. Goodbye, everyone! And may we meet again in the future! Or past! Depending on your timeline!” He entered the TARDIS. W. Doctor slowly walked up to the door before turning to his future incarnations.

“We won’t remember this, will we?” he asked. “Our telepathic conference, our fight with Vortech, all of it.”

“No,” replied Nine. “Only she will.” He was talking about Thirteen.

“A pity,” muttered W. Doctor. “I rather liked being the Doctor again. Goodbye, everyone.” He went in.

“It was nice to know that Gallifrey survived,” mused Nine. “Just this once, everybody lives. Well, gotta go. There’s a banana grove growing in Villengard. Good source of potassium!” He jumped into the TARDIS.

“What he neglected to mention,” explained Ten, “was that the whole banana grove thing was our doing when we used a molecular fruit bomb to destroy the thirteen weapons factories before the Daleks could control them during the Time War. Bye-bye!” He ran into the TARDIS.

“Yes, well, things to do!” called Eleven. “There’s a whole universe out there and I don’t need sand shoes to save it!” Ten poked his head out again.

“They’re not sand shoes!” he protested.

“They most certainly are!” replied Michael as Eleven entered the TARDIS. Twelve turned to us.

“I'll see you again sometime, but not necessarily in the right order,” he told us. I was about to hug him until he stepped back. “I don't do hugs goodbye. Until next time.” He entered the TARDIS.

“I do hugs,” said Thirteen. I hugged her. “Good grief,” she muttered as she broke off the embrace, “I forgot how much I tried to be the edgy grandpa.”

“Honestly,” answered Rusty, “I’m surprised I thought of you as a little sh*t. All of your incarnations have a certain charm.” Just then, One poked his head out of the door.

“You may have been a Dalek in the past,” he snapped, “but, if I ever hear language like that again, Young Lady, you’re in for a jolly good smacked bottom!” Twelve pulled him in and shut the door while Thirteen went red with embarrassment.

“Can we just pretend that never happened?!” she begged.

“I’m more broad-minded than when I was as a Dalek!” replied Rusty. “I mean, I know you have a thing for punishing us for waging war against life, but...”

“Can we just, please, never talk about that!” pleaded Thirteen.

“I’m rather interested in hearing all about this,” mused the Brigadier.

“All right, you two, police box, now!” demanded Thirteen as she shoved the former Dalek and UNIT allied Cyberman into the TARDIS. “Bye!” she said. The door closed and the familiar engines of the TARDIS signaled its departure. Marty and Doc then came up to us.

“It was a pleasure seeing more of creation!” exclaimed Doc as he shook my hand vigorously.

“Doc, easy!” protested Marty. Doc released my hand and entered HIS time machine. “See you around,” called Marty as he joined Doc. The Time machine then drove into the portal. Chell then signed something to us.

“I suppose I must go back,” translated Tanisha. She then used her own words. “Chell, it was nice meeting you and fighting GLaDOS with you.”

“I did not enjoy the fights!” protested GLaDOS.

“GLaDOS, before you go,” called Emily. She then handed over the amorality core. “I programmed the core control to eject the morality core and replace it with that one once you arrive.”

“Then our business is concluded,” replied GLaDOS. “Goodbye forever.” She and Chell went back home.

“Xiomara, Emmanuel, Hongo,” called Peter as he and the rest of the Ghostbusters prepared to leave, “if you ever want to feel good again, we’ll leave your positions open.”

“Merci!” called Emmanuel. The Ghostbusters then left.

“I gotta say,” cheered Jake, “this whole adventure would make for good video game material!” He jumped onto the rocket and they took off into the portal. Godzilla then stomped up to the portal.

“What, no goodbye?” I asked.

“You’ll see me again,” replied Godzilla. He entered. Next was Vader and his ship.

“The Empire owes you a great debt,” rumbled Vader. “You have my thanks.”

“And you have mine, Lord Vader,” I replied. Vader boarded his ship and the Star Destroyer took off into the large portal in the sky. The crew of the _Enterprise_ was next.

“It was an excellent fight,” called Sh’Kar. “Songs will be sung of this. Qapla'” (Success) The _Enterprise_ then left Vorton’s orbit. Ben and his group then approached the gateway.

“Well, it’s been fun,” called Ben, “but we’ve got an interstellar road trip to get started! See you around!” They all left for their home. Mario and Peach then approached the gateway.

“It’s-a been fun!” called Mario.

“Thank you for having us!” cheered Peach. Mario then picked Peach up bridal style and they went through.

“Well, I gotta go,” said Sonic. “Prime’s gonna be wicked spooked when I arrive back at the Bots’ base! See ya!”

“Wait, Prime?!” I called. “Sonic, who are you...?!” Too late. He went through.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” whispered Death in assurance. I shrugged and turned to Mystery Inc.

“See you guys later,” I said. “Keep solving mysteries.”

“That’s what we do!” replied Fred as everyone went through.

“We gotta go, as well,” sighed Lacey. “Hey, if you ever want free higher education, After Academy is always an option.”

“...You serious?” I asked.

“When you earn your degree there,” elaborated Death, “it will say that you went to the college of your choice. We’re the best educational institution in the multiverse.”

“I’d take up her offer!” called Deadpool. He then turned to Death. “See you soon, my bony bride!”

“Right, you, home, now!” snapped Death as she tossed him into the portal. She then breathed to calm down. “Well?”

“No crushing student debt?” asked Richard.

“No crushing student debt,” confirmed War.

“I don’t know about you guys,” called Emily, “but I wanna go there!”

“Can we?” I asked our parents. “Please?!”

“I don’t see why not,” said Okaa-san. That seemed to be the general consensus.

“You’ve made an excellent choice!” cheered Scorpainia. “As a graduate of that school, I can safely say, their education is invaluable to rulers. May success bless your future!”

“May success bless yours,” I replied. Scorpainia, Discornia, Sludgiona, and Turretorg then went through the portal, returning to Tarlax.

“We’ll send you your acceptance letters within a week,” whispered Death. “See you at After Academy.” She, her fellow Five Horsemen, and their respective heralds then leapt through the portal. We turned to Batman and his allies.

“We need to go,” rasped Batman. “Lord Vortech really did a number on our home. We’re leaving this in your hands.” The DC heroes then left. Wyldstyle turned to us.

“You guys made some incredible builds,” she complimented. “I can’t wait to see what you can come up with in my home. See you later, alligator!” She then took her fellow Master Builders home. Gandalf then turned to us.

“Three hundred lives of Men have I walked this earth,” he told us. “Now, we must return home. Goodbye, Vortex Riders. Until our next meeting.” He took the Fellowship back to their home universe.

“Minna-san,” said Hongo, “it’s been an honor to see the birth of new Kamen Riders. Just remember, evil never rests.”

“We’ll be ready for it!” I promised Hongo. “Sayonara, Kamen Rider!” Hongo then took his fellow Riders back home. X-PO then turned to us.

“Just so you know,” he said to us, “when you guys leave, I’m gonna be scrambling Vorton’s coordinates. I DON’T want a repeat of what happened before we beat Vortech.”

“Just keep us informed of the new coordinates,” I requested.

“Wouldn’t dream of keeping you in the dark,” promised X-PO. I turned to my friends and family.

“Minna,” I announced, “I don’t know about you, but home sounds really nice right now. Let’s go home.” We entered the portal and flew through the rift until we arrived back in our home, Castle Nerd Skull. According to our phones, we arrived a few seconds after we left for this whole adventure, so the pizza was still warm and fresh. We all had a slice until our phones buzzed. According to whatever news stations we follow, reports of strange blue portals opening in the sky have caused citizens to be concerned, especially when villains from our fiction have arrived with people in strange, black outfits with a skeletal motif. The attackers turned out to be Shocker Rift Combatmen. I then looked at everyone. “Like Hongo-san said,” I muttered, “evil never rests.”

“Now’s a good time to test out the new Vortex Drivers,” suggested Livia.

“True,” I mused. We then equipped our new belts.

“Vortex Driver!” they announced. We then held out our i.d tags and struck our poses.

* * *

We returned safely to the Kamen Rider universe and looked around. “Arakawa Nature Park,” I mused. “Where it all started.” Just then, I heard someone say something, sounding almost like “Henshin!” I guessed who it was. “Megumi, you are a powerful girl,” I said. At that moment, people started screaming! We whirled around to see Shocker Rift attacking. We Riders looked at each other.

“Well, it’s as you said, evil never rests,” mused Sento. We then struck our poses.

“Rider...” I began, “...HENSHIN!”

_Semaru Shocker, Jigoku no gundan (Approaching Shocker, the infernal army.)_

_Warera wo nerau kuroi kage (We are targeted by the black shadow,)_

_Sekai no heiwa wo mamoru tame (We shall protect the peace of the world.)_

_Go! Go! Let’s go! Kagayaku Mashin (The Shining Machine)_

_Rider Jump! Rider Kick!_

_Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider!_

_Rider, Rider!_

_Semaru Shocker, Akuma no gundan (Approaching Shocker, the demonic army.)_

_Waga tomo nerau kuroi kage (Our friends are targeted by the black shadow,)_

_Sekai no heiwa wo mamoru tame_

_Go! Go! Let’s go! Shinku no Mafurā! (The Crimson Muffler)_

_Rider Jump! Rider Kick!_

_Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider!_

_Rider, Rider!_

_Semaru Shokkā, Kyōfu no gundan (Approaching Shocker, the terrifying army.)_

_Waga machi nerau kuroi kage (Our town is targeted by the black shadow,)_

_Sekai no heiwa wo mamoru tame_

_Go! Go! Let’s go! Midori no Kamen (The Green-colored Helmet)_

_Rider, Rider! Rider Jump! Rider Kick!_

_Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider!_

_Rider, Rider!_


	79. Epilogue

Richard and I had been on a few dates after the Vortech Wars. He’s a really sweet guy, a bit of a romantic at heart. Even when we’re at After Academy, he still plays the doting boyfriend. Of course, I play the doting girlfriend for him. We always enjoy each other’s company. Right now, we were at After Academy, in our dorm, snoozing together in our bed. I always had my head on his chest. Listening to him breath helps me sleep soundly. He said he snores, but I’m a deep sleeper, so it doesn’t bother me. His chest rose and sank in a calming rhythm as a voice from what I thought was the radio came to life. “Hey, Good Morning, After Academy!” it softly said. “It’s now five after the hour of 6 AM in the school for both the living and dead. It’s another day for another semester. Thank goodness for time differentials cause one semester here is less time for your native universe, ranging from one second to at least a week. Temperature’s a balmy 18.3⁰ Celsius, 65⁰ Fahrenheit, perfect for those of reptilian origin and, hey, it looks like it’s gonna be a perfect day to maybe lie in bed, sleep in, or...WORK OUT THE FLAB THAT’S HANGING OVER THE BED!” I started stirring with a “mwhuh?” “GET UP, YOU TWO!” The source of the voice then blasted an airhorn into our ears! We tumbled out of bed and Emily, the voice’s source, grabbed us by the shoulders and shoved us into the closet. “Workout clothes! Come on, butterballs!” called Emily.

“I don’t recall ordering a wake-up call, thorny!” snarled Richard as we got into our workout clothes.

“I can’t say I ordered such a thing!” I snapped.

“Less talk, more getting dressed for working out!” called an Australian voice.

“You’re in on this too, Joshua?!” protested Richard as we changed into a white tank top and black sweats. We left the closet and found Emily and Joshua in the same outfit as me and Richard.

“All right, pushup time!” called Emily. I will say this; she and Josh DO join us whenever we work out. We started with our pushups. “Come on, feel the burn!” she encouraged. “You guys call yourselves veterans of the Vortech Wars?!”

* * *

“Okay, Rider feet, Rider feet, Rider feet, SHOCKER MOOK!” We stopped running in place and hid behind an imaginary barrier. “Okay, Rider feet, Rider feet, Rider feet, MAIN BOSS!” We threw a punch.

* * *

“MOOKS ON TWO LEVELS!” called Emily as we kicked the appropriate places on the bags. “Oh, I thought I had you!”

* * *

“Okay, mates, let’s do it!” called Joshua as he had a crudely drawn Shocker Combatman’s face on a broom handle. As he swung the handle around, Richard and I swung wooden swords at the thing. “He’s over here!” called Josh. “No, he’s over here! Don’t let him touch you!”

* * *

“I don’t know, but it’s been said,” sang Emily as we pushed our stuff around, “I like scaring mooks in bed!”

* * *

“Come on, fight that plaque!” encouraged Joshua as we brushed our teeth. “Fight that plaque! Real heroes don’t have plaque!”

* * *

“118,” called Emily as we did pullups on the overhanging pipe. “Do you have 119? Do I hear 120?”

“I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” called Josh.

“I’m not even breaking a sweat!” replied Richard.

“Not you, mate!” argued Joshua. “The new advert’s on!” He switched on the t.v. and we all stopped to see the new commercial with all the Vortex Riders in it.

“After Academy,” began Death as a picture of the main campus castle appeared. “We prepare YOU for the future.”

“Yes, education can be tough,” mentioned Batman as he appeared, “but the cost doesn’t need to be. It’s a free school that offers only the finest in courses. Besides, even if you DO have a degree already, it doesn’t hurt to have a degree from After Academy under your belt.”

“And only we of the faculty know about where you actually went,” continued Lacey. “Your degree will tell everyone else you went to the college or university of your choice.”

“Another good thing about After Academy?” asked Richard in the commercial. “No crushing student debt. I know it’s a worry for a lot of you. Believe me, I’ve been there. Thankfully, After Academy, its courses, and its services are free.”

“Emmanuel used that shot?” asked the real Richard.

“After Academy,” whispered Death in the commercial as we all gathered in our uniforms. “We will help you plan your future today!” The commercial ended and a full, three gold star rating appeared at the end.

“All three stars?” Joshua asked.

“All gold?” quizzed Emily. “We HAVE to congratulate Emmanuel!”

“I’ll say we do!” I agreed.

* * *

We had breakfast, got into our uniforms, got our school hip bags, and headed out the door. “Trust me,” bragged Emily as she adjusted her hairpiece, “with Emmanuel, you’re gonna be seeing my face on t.v. a lot!”

“I don’t think America’s Most Wanted needs any new cameramen or new faces to watch out for,” joked Richard.

“Har har, it is to laugh,” said Emily in a dry voice. “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since kindergarten.” We then spotted a red car.

“All right, mates, in we go!” called Joshua as he pulled out the keys and unlocked it.

“Nope! Nuh uh!” replied Richard. We started walking past the car.

“Oi! OI! Where are you going?!” protested Joshua.

“Guys, the car’s right here!” called Emily

“Joshua, Emily,” I explained, “there’s a fuel shortage. We’re walking.”

“WALKING?!” wailed Joshua. We then managed to pull them away from the car, just enough so Joshua could lock it electronically. “Oi, mates,” he asked, “you lot wanna know why I bought the car?”

“Not really,” I muttered. Emily finished.

“To DRIVE it!” she said. “You know? With the vroom vroom, and the honk honk and going out onto the street with no walking involved?!”

“Wah, wah, wah! Give it a rest, you two!” I mocked.

“Come on,” called Richard, “you two could use the exercise.”

“I could use the exercise?!” protested Emily. “Look at YOU! You’ve got your own gravity!” We crossed the street and passed some first graders playing jump rope.

“Morning!” called one of them.

“Morning, kids!” replied Richard. The kid jumping the rope was distracted long enough to be entangled in the rope. We then approached a grocery store to see a tentacled Tarlaxian setting up the fruits and vegetables, humming to herself. A pair of her nineteen eyes moved their stalks when they detected us.

“Oi! Tentallia!” called Joshua.

“Hey, you guys!” called the Tarlaxian, Tentallia, owner and manager of Tentallia’s Grocery Store. We made various noises like “badda-bing!” and “pop pop POP!” “I hear one of your friends just got picked for the best commercial broadcast today!” said Tentallia.

“We saw,” I told her. “Emmanuel’s probably over the moon!”

“Tell him Tentallia sends her congratulations,” requested Tentallia.

“Will do!” promised Joshua as we turned.

“Hey! Wait!” called Tentallia. She then tossed us some fruit from her home. “On the house!” she called.

“Thanks!” I replied. We happily ate the fruits. They’re called Grabeldas, one of the most nutritious and delicious fruits on Tarlax 14. After we finished, we deposited the cores into a compost bin. We then approached a fifty foot lizard woman in her school uniform.

“HEY! ANGELA!” called Richard. “GOOD MORNING!”

“Good Morning!” Angela called down to us. We waited at the crosswalk until the cars stopped.

“See, guys?” Richard pointed out to Emily and Joshua as we crossed. “Angela’s walking to school.”

“Big deal,” countered Emily. “Girl takes five steps and she’s there.” We approached the main Campus Castle and checked in.

“See you guys later!” I called as we split off for our classes. My mind wandered a bit towards my future. Once we BOTH have our degrees, Richard and I will be married and soon bring Kaede and Kaitlyn into existence. Future with Richard, here I come!


End file.
